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
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