October 7th Letter

Dearest Family and Friends,

How are you all!? I love you all and appreciate your letters and e-mails so much! I am so grateful to have all of you in my life!

Shoutout to Cody who is playing at state tennis this week! I love you so much bud! Play on Wednesday! :)

As you saw in the subject line, I am staying in Crystal City for at least another transfer!! I am really grateful for this and I love Crystal City! We had transfers this week, and I got a new companion, Sister McBride! She is from a really small town in Utah called Annabella and had 9 brothers and sisters! She is 19, almost 20 and is 5'11 with long brown hair! We are opposites in so many ways but we get a long really well. I would send you a picture, but I left my camera at Keren's today, when we visited her to say goodbye, which brings me to my next point...

Keren is flying to Israel tonight at 6:30 and she won't be back for three weeks! She was insistent that we would continue our visits after she got back, and she already told us what she wants to learn and talk about when she gets back :)  We had a lesson with her on Friday, and I got really emotional in it because I knew she was leaving so soon. That was the start of a very emotional but blessed weekend! This brings me to my next point...

This weekend I was talking to a woman that we met at the church while we were watching general conference, and all I could think to talk about was my investigators. I felt like one of those mothers that only talks about their children, and who talks about them with anyone that will listen. I started to remind myself of a woman from back home that many of us know, and I realized that I am officially becoming an awkward person. Promise that you'll all still love me when I get home, even if all I know to talk about is my mission. 

This week was crazy, so this e-mail will probably be really jumbled as a result. Instead of going over each day, I will hit all the main points I can remember:

*Monday to Wednesday were crazy with trying to see everyone that Sister Orrock wanted to see before she left. It was a really hard and great 3 days! We were really blessed, and I feel like everyone we talked to strengthened us more than we strengthened them. Even though there were going to be a lot of changes happening Thursday, I was blessed so that I didn't feel worried at all. I felt very calm and relaxed about everything, and I know the Lord was strengthening me.

*On Tuesday, we had a training meeting at the mission home which was amazing! Our mission president is incredible and I want you all to meet him sometime! I don't remember what else happened that day, but I bet we talked to a lot of people!

*Wednesday was the final day, and we fit so much in this day! It was fantastic! The highlight of it was going to the temple visitors center with Keren! She had an amazing experience there, and she loved seeing the replicas of Solomon's temple and the temple that the Israelite's carried in the wilderness. We also watched, "Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration" movie with her, and she loved it! We are so grateful we were able to have this experience with her before she left for Israel.  

That evening we had the long anticipated, double dinner night! We had gluten free pizza (you would've liked it Mom!) at a member's home and then Sandra and Ignacio fed us a HUGE dinner at their home. They are Latino, and she made us a ton of food. She also dished up our plates for us, so we got really large portions. I honestly think that Heavenly Father helped me to finish the food, so that I wouldn't offend them. I was able to finish the plate, and it wasn't even the fullest I've ever been! Tender mercies my friends. Tender mercies.

*Thursday was transfer day!!! We were at the church by 8:30 and left at 3:30! It was a great day and I got to see almost all of my MTC district!  That evening we had dinner at a member's home, we power houred for a while and then we did a member visit! It was a great first night with my new companion!!

*Friday was great!!

*Wasn't general conference amazing!? It was a really powerful couple of days, and a revelatory experience! I feel like we need general conference every 6 months, and it is healing for the soul. It was just incredible! I loved President Utchdorf's talk, Elder Holland's talk, Elder Ochoa's talk and the man who spoke in the last session that was Australian. I loved how many of them talked about loving God with all your heart, might, mind and strength and I desire so much to do this. i want to improve my relationship with my Heavenly Father and I desire so much to be closer to Him. They also talked a lot about the scripture that says, "ask and ye shall receive, seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you." 

This week was full of trials but also full of blessings! The Lord is strengthening me.

I love you all and I wish could show and express this more fully! Thank you for all you continue to do for me!!

Love you dearly!

Sister Chelsea Akin 

September 30th Letter

Dearest Family and Friends!

I hope that this letter finds you all happy and well! I pray for each of you daily and love you so much!!! Thank you so much for all of your letters and packages! I wore my Wyoming shirt to this gym this morning that you sent Ash, and I have never been so excited to go to they gym. I was so excited to represent my home, and while pride is not good, I felt so proud to be from Wyoming at that moment.

I hit my 3 month mark of being on a mission this past week! It feels like I just entered the MTC, but then again, it feels like it was years ago. So much has changed and happened in these past 3 months. It is amazing how much your life and yourself can change in such a short period of time. I feel like the biggest thing I have learned in three months is how much Heavenly Father loves His children and is always watching out for them and taking care of them. I still don't comprehend His love fully, but I feel in greater abundance as I come closer to Him. I loved what President Monson said at the general relief society meeting about how God always loves us. Even if we don't deserve it, His love is always there.  I feel like I am developing a personal relationship with Heavenly Father, and I am so grateful for this. I feel like, and I hope I am changing and becoming more like my Savior. 

Also, I read something neat the other day, about how as missionaries, we thrust in the sickle and the Lord does the harvest. It truly is His work, but He needs servants to thrust in the sickle.  I want to always be a willing and worthy servant for Him, because I love Him. I also am coming to realize that the more dedicated I am in service to Him and the more I give to Him, the happier I am!  I know that is true for all of us!

Also, I just realized that the Pentagon and Arlington Cemetery are in my area! I knew they were close, but I didn't realize how close. It continues to amaze me that I am actually here. That I am 4 miles away from our nation's capital! Here is a quick list of some simple things that I love about this area:

 * The trees - it's so cool to feel like you are always driving through a forest

      *Traffic jams - all the time, even at 6:00 pm on a Sunday night. Where else, except maybe China, would you find traffic like that!?

      *Planes and helicopters constantly flying overhead. It's actually very calming, and I don't feel as nervous about them as I used to.

      *Being surrounded by people in the military. I have two military neighbors (one of them is an investigator!) that I know of, but I don't think I have ever felt so safe! Also, the investigator who is our neighbor and in the military, is an honor guard at the Arlington Cemetery and a sniper! He will be appearing later in this e-mail, so look forward to that!

       *The people that we meet from all around the world, and we have copies of the Book of Mormon in so many different languages because of it.  We always carry English, Spanish, and Chinese copies with us, but we have several others in our car, including Vietnamese, German, Amharic (Ethiopian language), French, Mongolian, Swahili, etc.  

        *Practicing my Spanish! I can now say "Compartimos un mensaje de Jesu Cristo. Yo creo en Jesu Cristo. Jesu Cristo is mi Sabador," very quickly! Ihave such a strong desire to learn Spanish and Chinese, and I love interacting with these people!

        *EVERYONE has a dog! I think I have almost seen every breed of dog that there is here! 

               

And so much more! In other exciting news...it's transfer week!! I think I am staying here, but I will let you all know on Friday!

Here is a quick rundown of the week!

MONDAY- We had dinner with Keren and a woman in our ward. We ate a the Pentagon City Mall, and I tried Panera Bread for the first time. It is a lot like Kneaders, but I think I actually like Kneaders better. They got a long really well, and it was a really good dinner. Keren commented afterwards that every Mormon she has met is so nice, and this just amazes her! We then visited a sweet lady who works at an apartment complex named Negeset, and had a really good visit with her. We have given her a Book of Mormon, but she hasn't read it yet. We love visiting with her, and we make it a point to visit her at least once a week. She is an older woman, and told us that she wants to be married and have 10 children, and she is afraid that she missed her chance at this. She says that she thinks that God gave her a lot of chances for this when she was young, but she didn't take them, so she doesn't think He will give her any more. It made me so sad for her that this is how she feels. I don't feel like she is really happy because of this, and I desire so much for her to have the hope of the gospel in her life. We tried to express this to her, and tell her that God has not, nor will He ever give up on her.

TUESDAY - We had district meeting, comp study, and then we went out and did a "Power Hour" (a fun way to say that we went street contacting). It was the strangest power hour we have ever had. We met a man doing Tai Chi in the park, and he told us all about it and recommended some great You Tube videos that we should watch, that show more about it (If any of you are interested in learning, search for Tai Chi Master on youtube :) ) He was really into science and into using logic to explain religion, which I have found gets you absolutely nowhere. It just makes you more confused, when you try to reason through and explain everything using science. Not that you shouldn't seek answers to questions, but it is really only through the Holy Ghost that you can know Spiritual truths. He was great though!

We then met a man named Maxwell, who rejected us by telling us a lot of quantum physics jokes, that neither I or Sister Orrock understood. He was also great and very intelligent!

We then met a man named Jason who seemed really uninterested and like he didn't want to talk to us at all. He had visited a Methodist church in the past to learn more about God, but didn't feel like he got anything out of it.  An hour later, we got a text from him, and he said that he had a lot of questions about religion, and he appreciated us talking to him.  I think that is the first time someone has actually used our number on a pass along card to contact us, and we were really excited. On Wednesday, he text us saying that Sister Akin had beautiful eyes, and I was so horrified! It is one of the worst feelings in the world to be flirted with as a missionary. I seriously feel so dirty and it just gives me the heebie jeebies.  As you can guess, we will probably not be seeing him again, and will be passing him off to the elders :)

That night we had a lot of tender mercies and made contact with a lot of people, but didn't get into a lesson with anyone.

WEDNESDAY - We got to visit sweet Alma Jones at the nursing home! She is seriously the sweetest woman that I know, and she has such a strong testimony and love of the gospel. She is going to the temple soon to receive her endowments, and we are going to go with her. I am excited for her and excited to be there with her. I love that woman so much!

We had a lesson that night with Sandra and Ignacio (a part member family - he is from Mexico and she from Colombia). It was a slightly stressful lesson. She like to talk a lot, which was great, but not so great when she was talking about stuff that had nothing to do with the gospel. We would ask her a question and she would talk for  10 minutes nonstop and end up talking about cows (no joke) or anything that was not related to the church. She has a very good heart, but we just need to figure out how to teach her and what she needs.

THURSDAY - Lesson with Keren day! It is always a great day when we get to have a lesson with Keren! We talked about Jesus Christ, our need for a Savior, and justice and mercy. We watched some clips of conference talks with her, and read a lot of scriptures in the Book of Mormon to explain it. It was such a powerful lesson, and I think the need for Jesus Christ, is really starting to click for her. I felt like it was a huge turning point lesson for her, and that her faith in Jesus Christ grew so much! She is going back to Israel next Monday for a month, which we are sad and excited for. We are going to the temple visitors center with her this upcoming Wednesday and watching the Joseph Smith movie with her, which I hope will be a really powerful experience for her.  That night we had dinner at a ward member's home. They are Japanese American and are slightly intimidating at first, but it ended up being a really good visit. He has met every president since President Ford and he is good friends with Jeffrey R. Holland! They fed us tofu, rice and vegetables. They are very sweet and I love them both. 

That evening we went on another Power Hour and met a family from Bolivia or Belize.  We then visited Pei/Darcy and Nan. They had just made some Chinese food and they insisted that we sit down and eat with them. Double Dinner Night! We read Alma 32 with him, and had a really good discussion about it. Chinese people are so giving and so kind! They are just amazing people!

FRIDAY - We had a launching leaders meeting (a course that a senior couple teaches) and a half mission conference. The AP's presented a goal of having 166 baptisms by the end of the year for the whole mission, so we are working for that. It is so exciting and I love these types of things! It really felt like a pep rally at times, but it was very effective and motivating!!

That night we had dinner with another couple in our ward. They just moved here from Seattle and they were so fun to talk to. We then visited Rob, a less active member in our ward, and then tried to make contact with a potential, but he didn't want to see us. We ended up getting a return apt with his roommate for tonight though!

SATURDAY - We did weekly planning today along with the progress record, so it didn't feel like we actually were able to do a lot of work. We did go to the relief society broadcast with Keren though, and she loved it! It was so fantastic!

SUNDAY- Our sniper and military investigator, Jacob, came to church with us!! This was truly a miracle and an answer to 2 months of prays and fasting. He currently attends a Baptist church, and studies the Bible for several hours a week. He said that he would have to leave church by 9 (we start at 8) but he ended up staying until 9:45. Good sign I think! Gratefully testimony meeting was a really good meeting, and the Spirit was so strong! 

Oh I forgot something relatively huge that happened Saturday night. Pei called us and said that his parents were livid that he was studying religion, and they said we were brainwashing him. He was really sad when he called us to tell us he couldn't meet with us anymore, and he was afraid he wouldn't want to talk to him anymore! We reassured him that was most definitely not the case. Fast forward to Sunday, where this story will continue.

We visited Sandra and Ignacio briefly, and then we went with Pei to the members that have become really close friends with him. We talked about all of his concerns, and he said that he feels like we are all, and especially the Larsen family, his really close friends. He said that he still wants to know more about our church, but he doesn't think he can get baptized yet. We also reassured him that he doesn't have to get baptized yet, but we can still teach him. He was very excited about this, and we will continue to pray that his parents' hearts will be softened. 

That evening we went to a new member fireside with a recent convert in our ward, and he spoke at it! He is from China, and was really nervous, but he did so great! 

The Lord is blessing us and watching over us so much! I know He is doing the same for you!

I am sorry that I won't be able to send long replies to all of your e-mails that you sent. I am so grateful for them, but I didn't manage my e-mail time well today!

Also, it was raining and snowing there!? It is chilly in the mornings here, but still in the 70's during the day.

Cory, I am so excited to hear the Mormon rap when I get home and to see your new wheels :)

Cody, I hope that state tennis goes great! You are incredible bud!!!

Also, I am so excited for general conference. We are going to try to watch it with investigators and less actives in our ward, so hopefully we get to watch all the sessions!

Thank you again for your packages. I especially appreciated the forks and staples ;) I love you all so much!!

Love you dearly!

Sister Chelsea Akin

Thought for the week: Jacob 7 - the whole chapter is incredible! Be unshaken!

September 23rd Letter

Dearest Family and Friends,

There is a little teaser of this fantastic week! We had a lot of ups and downs, but we were very blessed and we were the recipients of many tender mercies! Our Heavenly Father truly is aware of us and He will never forsake us. Two pick-me-up scriptures that really helped me this week- D&C 61:36 and Alma 26:30 (I believe-it's the last verse of that chapter).  Also, on my mission, I am coming to be less frustrated with my weaknesses and to almost appreciate them (or I guess I am trying to get to that point!). Through my weaknesses, I have had to draw closer to my Heavenly Father and my Savior I have learned to rely on them. They have led me to be more humble, to exercise greater faith in Them, and to work with greater diligence, all of which help us to access the grace of Jesus Christ.  I am so grateful for this experience and for how much it is changing me. I still do not know a lot, but I do know this is the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and that Heavenly Father lives, He is our Father and He loves us. I love what it says in the Bible about how the Spirit witnesses to our Spirit that we are the children of God. I know this is true!

I am also so grateful that Heavenly Father still speaks to His children today. It is so sad to me that so many people in the world don't know this. I was reading in Joseph Smith History today, about how when Joseph Smith told a minister about his vision. The minister said it was of the devil and that all revelation had ended with the apostles of Christ, and that revelation didn't nor would it happen anymore. In "Our Search for Happiness", Elder Talmage says how presumptuous it is of man to put limits on God or on if He can or cannot speak to His children.  We are all His children - He wants to speak to all of us, and He desires our joy. He desires us to return to live with Him again, and to find peace in this life. Sister O and I were talking this morning about how our parents didn't give just give counsel or advice to the older children in our families. They didn't just tell all the younger kids that they had already said all they needed to say to the older children, and so they weren't going to give the younger kids any more of their counsel. They didn't just make the younger kids rely on counsel that they had written down for the older kids.  I don't know if that makes sense, but I am so grateful for the scriptures that we have, that record the counsel and the dealings of God with the ancient inhabitants of the earth, and that still apply to us and were written for us. I am also so grateful for continuing revelation from God-for continuing counsel to us. It is just such an amazing blessing to be a member of this restored gospel. I have been given so much and have been so blessed, that I want to give my Heavenly Father everything. Anyway, I just love this gospel so much and I feel so passionate about it!

I am so happy today! I cannot fully express why I am this happy, or how I feel, but I love being here. I love serving a mission, and I am grateful that I was called to the Washington D.C. South Mission. I hope that you are all doing well and that you are happy! I pray for you often and I know that Heavenly Father is watching over you always. I am grateful for this comfort. I just love you all like crazy!!

Here is a quick rundown of this past week:

Monday - We had family home evening on Monday night with our Jewish investigator, Keren, and her husband and a couple in our ward, named the Babitz. They are fantastic people and are hilarious, and Keren got along really well with Sister Babitz. We first got frozen yogurt at a place called Sweet Frog. I was talking to Keren's husband, and he started telling me about one of his past transgressions that was very serious. He is one of those people who just talks and talks and you don't really get a word in, and he started telling me about it out of the blue. It was really disconcerting and shocking. We called president and told him about it, and he said, "So someone mistook you for a catholic priest, Sister Akin..." He gave us help in what to do, and how to handle the situation. He also helped me to feel less guilty, for I was worrying that I had pried too much and that I had made him tell me, and I kept replaying the conversation in my head. Anyway, Monday night was a very very interesting night to say the least.

Tuesday - District Meeting day! Always a fun day! We also visited Keren which was great! She is going back to Israel in two weeks, and she just found out that she had been cleared to go back. Also, she was cleared to go back on Saturday, the day of Yom Kippur! She did Yom Kippur exactly as they are told to, meaning she fasted from Friday night until Saturday night. She did not eat, drink water, use electricity, bath, brush her teeth, etc.- they have from everything. She said that on Saturday she prayed about being cleared to leave for Israel, and her prayer was answered! She has so much faith and so much love for her God!

Wednesday - We met a man named Burd! He is from Thailand and he walks dogs for his work! He was so nice and we had short lesson with him while he was walking a dog! We also visited sweet Alma, whom I sent a picture of last week! Then we met a nice man from Ghana at a bus stop. His name was Elliott and he had met with missionaries in the past, but just fell out of contact with them. Hopefully we are able to meet with him again, and teach him!  I then tried making this special pasta dish that Keren had showed us how to make, but it didn't turn out the way it did when she made it. It was fun to make it though, and I have thoroughly grown to love cooking so much more since I have been out here! (I promise I don't spend exuberant amounts of time cooking-only the time we have for dinner and lunch and on P-Day.) We then visited two members that night and went street contacting!

Thursday - Exchange day! I got to go on an exchange with a sister trainer leader, Sister Goates. It was so incredible and it changed my whole perspective of the mission. I am learning that this mission is not about me or about what I want. It is not my work, so it is not going to go my way. It is His work and it is going to be done His way. I am simply an instrument in His hands!  I also want to work so that this gospel becomes a part of me-I don't just tell people about it, but I live it. I desire this so much! I always feel like you see miracles on exchanges (based on my extensive experience of 2 exchanges thus far (: ) and that's what happened this time! We had a great member visit, then we had dinner with two members and we were blessed to be fed kalua pork again! We then tried to visit a former investigator, and we ended up having a long visit with her son and his girlfriend instead, since the former investigator wasn't home. The son invited us in, and said that his girlfriend had a lot of questions about God and religion. He is an atheist and she is agnostic. We had a really good discussion with them, and gave her a copy of the Book of Mormon. They welcomed us back anytime! We then went street contacting for the rest of the evening and met a lot of great people. We met a Chinese boy named Phil and he gave us hid address so that we could visit him this week!

Friday - Weekly Planning Day!! We also had a lesson with Keren, that a member came to us with. We then went street contacting and met...you guessed it...the ambassador of Iraq! It was so much fun to talk to him and his family. We had a good visit with them and talked for about 30 minutes! We also met a man that night named Jim Stewart who is in the process of trying to find his church. We taught him a quick lesson and gave him a copy of the Book of Mormon and restoration pamphlet. He was so great and very open and interested in learning more! We also went to dinner that night with Keren at the Pentagon City Mall. This mall is huge btw, and it looks like it has everything!

Saturday - Saturday began with a weeding service project that our ward was doing with the Catholic church. It took us forever to find the park that they were weeding at, and by the time we got there, I think I pulled only about 10 weeds, until we were done. There was a ton of poison ivy around and I was so so afraid of ticks, so I wasn't super torn up about not being there very long. I love service and normally would love pulling weeds, but ticks have become almost more scary to me than spiders. 

We also met a super nice woman named Shalom, who lives at our same apartment complex. We talked to her for an hour, and she said that we could come over at anytime!  That night we visited our Chinese investigator, Pei, and we had a quick visit with him and his roommate. He said that he couldn't go to church because he had a paper to write the next day. We tried to explain to him that he would be blessed for going to church, and we taught him more about it using scriptures. 

We had a huge rainstorm that night-we're talking sheets of rain! It was a little scary driving home that night because it was hard to see anything, but gratefully we got home safely!

Sunday - Ward Conference Day! It was a great church day, but none of our investigators who said they would come to church, came. We taught gospel principles and it was really fun! After church, we had a lesson with Pei at a member's home, and they fed us lunch. Pei also brought his roommate to this lesson, so we have a new investigator. They both committed to read the Book of Mormon and to come to church. We went to a ward friendship dinner that evening, which was so much fun! We then visited a recent convert in our ward named Wu Biao, and he is just the sweetest man! His wife just had a new baby, and he was walking with the baby when we got there. We then went street contacting and met a scary man, but then met tons of other great people! We met a man named Elvin from Honduras and had a lesson with him. We have an apt with him this Wednesday!!

Theme of this week - Blessings, blessings and more blessings! I am so grateful for the Lord's tender mercies and blessings. I am so excited to see what this next week brings!!

I love you all!!!

Love,

Sister Chelsea Marie Akin

September 16th Letter

Dearest Family and Friends,

I hope you are all doing well, and that you are happy and safe!

I just heard about the shooting at the Navy Yard this morning. It makes me so sick to think about it. I am glad that Greg is okay, but my heart aches for those affected by it. The elders said that the Navy Yard is in our area, so we are calling our President to see if the suspect has been caught at this point, and what he would like us to do this evening. I am grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ because I don't think I would have true peace or hope without it.

This week was exactly as the subject of this e-mail says. A week of blessing and miracles!! It was manifest to me that this is truly the Lord's work and He is in control. We are just instruments in His hands. We were blessed to have been able to find 6 new investigators and 2 of them are already progressing! I felt like there were so many days where we left everything on the field, if you will, and we truly gave the Lord our everything! The Lord gives you the capacity to do what He calls you to do, and I feel my capacity and strength in doing this work, growing. Mom talked about the enabling power of the Atonement in her e-mail today, and I'm realizing that that's the source of the strength. I feel like I am changing through this work, and I hope so much that I am!

Here is a quick look at our week!

MONDAY - We were hit with rejection after rejection while street contacting but then we met some really great people! We met a boy named Cage (it's so cute and funny what names Chinese people choose for their English names) and he is from China! We taught him a lesson on the sidewalk the best that we could, for there was a really big language barrier. We pretty much pointed to sections of the Chinese Book of Mormon and asked him to read them. It was amazing though because when he read Moroni 10:3-5 in Chinese, I still felt the Spirit so strongly! We also met a lady named Tina, who said she was having a really hard time in life. We gave her a copy of the Book of Mormon and she asked for some chapters that were about peace. She was such a genuinely kind and sweet person! At first I was really intimidated to stop her, but she was so open. I am learning to not pass anyone off that you see, for you never know what they are going through.

TUESDAY - An absolutely incredible day!!! We had zone training which was fantastic and we made a big hairy audacious goal (BHAG) as a zone to get 35 baptisms by the end of October! We have no one on date currently, but we have faith and passion that this can happen!! We met a girl from China named Joanna, and she said that she was looking for a bible study group. We invited her to insitute and got her contact information, and you will see her name later in the e-mail! We also met a lot of people who only spoke Spanish, so we again got to practice Spanish. Serving here makes me want to learn every language in the world, but especially Spanish and Chinese! We also met a boy named Pei and had a lesson with him on the sidewalk! He is Chinese and he was so excited about it all! He told us that he was going to pray and try really hard to feel that it was true! You will also see him many times in this e-mail! While teaching him, we had a grown man stick his tongue out at us. That was fun.

That night two members treated us to Cafe Rio! We then did some more street contacting and saw our friend, Svetlana, who is from Russia! We see her all the time and she is so sweet! She wants to set us up with her Russian grandson who lives in Maryland :)

WEDNESDAY - Zone conference day! I loved this day so much because I love being around our mission president. He feels like a fatherly figure, and it is always the best day when you get to hear from him. We went street contacting that night and met a woman from Colombia named Yvonne. We sat down with her and taught her the restoration at the aprk!

THURSDAY - A crazy hot day!! We met a nice woman outside, and helped her carry her bags up to her apt. Her name was Tong and she was a Chinese journalist, so she took our picture afterwards because she was so touched by us helping her! Kindness and love are powerful things!

We also met a girl from China named Ivonne and an African American man named Steve. He said that he is coming to church next Sunday, so I'll give you an update on our friend Steve next week

We also visited our sweet friend Alma, whom I am sending a picture of next week!! We then met up with a woman from Ethiopia named Marta, and gave her an Amharic Book of Mormon! She is such a fantastic person and I feel so much love for her. 

That night we had dinner with a family from Hawaii and had sweet kalua pork! I am finding that I crave meat now because we don't eat it that much, since my companion is vegetarian. Maybe that is a sign that I need more protein, but needless to say, the pork was delicious and that has become one of my favorite foods!

FRIDAY - NATS GAME DAY!!!! Before the game we did two member visits and we talked to a homeless man named Lee! He was great! 

The NATS game was so much fun!! I felt a little guilty for being there because it was so long and we didn't get home til 11:30, but it was so great! I got to see all of the people I grew close to in the MTC and we talked for a while. I didn't actually watch much of the game, but they won so everyone was happy!! We went to bed at midnight that night which was crazy, and I am no longer used to that at all! The 6:30 am wakeup call was a little difficult on Saturday morning, but the Lord blessed us with energy!!

SATURDAY - So much happened today!!! This was one of the best days of my mission so far!! We first went to a pancake breakfast with Joanna (the Chinese girl who wanted to join a study group) that was at the Methodist church. They had something called Psalms 23 on 23rd Street that day, and had lots of different events at different churches. The pancake breakfast was great, and there were actually a lot of single LDS people there that Joanna got to meet.

Later on we went to an ice cream social with Pei (Chinese boy we met earlier in the week).  Turns out his English name is Darcy, which I thought was so cute and funny! The social was at the baptist church and he loved it. We talked to a lot of other Chinese people there and they tried to teach me Chinese. They laughed whenever I tried to say the Chinese words, and they were so great. I just want to be best friends with all these people, but I know that's not what I'm here for!

We then had a lesson with Bipin! We met him earlier that week, and I think he is from Ethiopia! The lesson was amazing and he is amazing! 

We then had a lesson with Pei at a member's home, and Pei was so happy there! He loved it so much! The husband in the family spoke Chinese, which was also a blessing!!!

SUNDAY - The day that Pei comes to church!! He came in a suit and tie and loved it so much! You could tell that he was trying so hard to do everything right, and he sang all the hymns with us. He told us that he felt the Spirit and when we left he said that he'd see us next week. He is just the cutest person, and he still seems like a little boy to me. He has so much faith and is truly coming to know it's true. 

We met a man from Honduras named Edwin that night. He was so great and so open! The Spirit was so strong, even as we were just talking to him. He was just incredible!!

P-Day is over in 10 minutes, so I better go!!! I love you all so much! You are all seriously so fantastic!!

Love,

Sister Chelsea Marie Akin