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
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