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
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