How are you all!? How is your Martin Luther King Day going? I hope you are all doing great and that you are happy! I decided that I would send my long e-mail first this week, since last weeks e-mail was dramatically shorter than usual :)
Happy 30th Birthday to Kelly tomorrow!!! That is so exciting that you are turning 30 Kel! I hope you have a great day and birthday week!
Here is a quick recap of last week's baptism and confirmation because it was just so wonderful. Tanya was an atheist for the majority of her life, after being turned away from religion when she was in her teens. She had a college professor that she connected with really well, and he became her "Dad," since her dad was out of the picture. They stayed in touch throughout the years, and eventually she found out he was a Mormon. She was shocked! She always respected him so much, and she didn't see how someone that intelligent would believe in these things. They continued to maintain a good friendship though, and a year ago, he gave her a Book of Mormon. At first, she read it with a really negative attitude, trying to prove it wrong the whole time. In talking with him, he said to just read it as if it were true. When she did that, everything changed. She fell in love with it, and the Holy Ghost testified to her that it was true! She told him she wanted to get baptized, and he said that she needed to meet with the missionaries first. That's where we come in. They taught her for about 3 months before I came to this area, and I got to teach her the lessons for the last month, prior to her baptism. Her college professor came and performed the baptism and confirmation and it was an incredible experience. She was so prepared and the Spirit was so strong at both of these ordinances. Another miracle - her husband, who is still an atheist, came to both the baptism and confirmation! When the missionaries first started teaching her, he wouldn't even go into the church building. Also, her apparently cried at the baptism, and he has been asking us a lot of questions about it since. It is truly so wonderful!
This week was a very blessed and peaceful week. Here is a quick recap of each day:
MONDAY - Family Home Evening with Tanya and her family and quick member visit!
TUESDAY - Breakfast with that same member at a place called Bagel Cafe. It was cute and hipster like. This member needs to feel loved and needed. I am realizing that a lot of people don't feel loved or needed, and that is the root of a lot of things they struggle with. I just want to love everyone with all my heart - love is a powerful thing!
We then had interviews with our mission president, which were fantastic. He is the greatest person and I am so grateful for him. I love him so much and I am grateful that Heavenly Father sent me here at this time, so that I can be his missionary. He is truly so great!!
A recent convert from Sri Lanka named Kumare then fed us a multicultural lunch and it was delicious! She fed us curry, basmati rice, fried chicken, yucca (has the texture of a potato), salad and some other things. I have realized that I love curry so much! She is the sweetest woman and she is so happy! The gospel has truly changed her life and her joy just continues to increase. She also has such amazing trust in her Heavenly Father which I look up to so much. She has had a lot of hard things happen to her since her baptism but she always says that God is in control and He is making her life better.
We also had a lesson with Bettina and she is still doing great! She is nervous about getting baptized because she is paralyzed on the right side. We are going to take her to the church that has the baptismal font, to show her how it will go and to help her feel more at ease about it. She won't be getting baptized this Saturday anymore, but at the beginning of February instead. She is so wonderful!
We had dinner with a member family that night and the family reminded me of Michelle and Greg's family. It was so wonderful and I felt so at home there!
We then visited a less active woman, who has been less active for about 20 years since her divorce. Since then, she has gone to multiple churches and read so many books about how to be happy and feel a connection with God, but she still feels so far away from Him. She admitted that she knows what she needs to do to feel close to Him again, but she doesn't want to change right now. For some reason, I feel like I connected really well with her, and it was really easy to talk to her. She is training for a half marathon, so we talked about that a lot which was so fun! It is weird to think and talk about my former life where I used to run half marathons, and I feel like that was so long ago. Sometimes I feel like I am forgetting everything about my life before the mission, but that's okay. I know all will work out, and that I need to be here now with all my heart, might, mind and soul! I love this woman so much already and I am grateful that Heavenly Father led us to visit her.
We also tracted into a man who is less active, and that was so fun! We taught him a lesson at his door since he was the only one home, and the Spirit was so strong as we stood there. He also came to church on Sunday which was fantastic!
Heavenly Father gave me a strong impression that night that we need to work more with those who are less active in our area and work on rescuing. I love this work and I love working with these individuals. I want them to taste the fruit of the gospel again and feel the exceeding joy that comes from living the gospel and having a remission of sins (see Mosiah 3 - it is amazing!).
WEDNESDAY - District Meeting today!! Always a fun day! We then tried to see Kumare's roommate who wants to meet with us, but she randomly left and didn't come back before our next appointment (don't worry-you'll hear about her again!). We then did some tracting and then had dinner with a member family and we ate split pea soup. They are a really great family, and they have three daughters who are so adorable! The oldest one that is 5, told us that she just thinks the gospel is so amazing and she is so excited to get baptized. She asked us a lot of questions about it, and shared some things she had written about how she loves her parents even when they are mad at her. It was actually very sophisticated and deep writing, especially for a 5 year old!
We then had a lesson with Bettina at a member's home and had another lesson with Tanya and her family!
THURSDAY - We helped a woman who is less active, put away all her Christmas decorations in the morning. The woman's name is Jenny and she is from Bolivia. She is so sweet and nice, and she paid us for our work in chocolate truffles :) (even though I promise we didn't ask for any type of pay!)
We then visited Ilana and that was very interesting. She is still coming to church, but she feels very distant right now. I don't know how to explain it, but I just feel so far away from her right now. We have been praying a lot about how to help her, and we keep just feeling that we need to love her (which is what Mom and Dad said too!). I love her so much, and I am just doing all I can to show it.
We came home for a late lunch that afternoon, to find a letter and package of hot tamales from Mom!!! I loved it so so much!!! I love Hot Tamales so much and I might have eaten a lot of them already! It was such a wonderful surprise and it made me so happy!
We did some tracting and then went to a dinner appointment at a member's home. She is recently married and her husband leaves for 3 months at a time to a country in the middle east. He is currently gone, so we just had a nice cozy dinner with her.
We then had another lesson with Bettina, and then we went to Kumare's to have a lesson with her roommate, and her roommate was there!! Her name is Flor, and she is 20 years old. She has two little girls, one that is 5 and the other is 2. She is so great and we had a really good conversation/lesson with her. We love her so much and we are so excited to teach her!!
That night after planning, we made a cake for Tanya since it was her birthday the next day! We made a three tiered cake, with a layer of brownie on the bottom, cake next, and another layer of brownie and cake mixed together. We then covered it with white frosting and black decorative frosting, so it was a classy black and white cake! (You probably all are really concerned about what kind of cake we made her and how we decorated it, so there you go! :)
FRIDAY - We helped Jenny finish putting her Christmas decorations away and then she insisted that she take us out to breakfast. She took us to a place called Virginia Kitchen and it was a cute little diner! As you can see, a big theme of my e-mails seems to be that we teach people and we eat!
We then had another lesson with Bettina and gave her the Book of Mormon on CD to listen to since she can't read very well. She was so excited and she loved it!
We then did some weekly planning and finished decorating Tanya's cake! Afterwards, we went out to dinner with Tanya and her family and had a really great dinner at this place called Sweetwater in Sterling. Afterwards, we had her birthday cake, played a game and that was our night!
SATURDAY - The stake had a breakfast for all the missonaries at the stake center, and it was great!
We then finished our weekly planning, had dinner with another less active member named Margaret and visited a member family. Margaret had a lot of family over and it was fun to talk to all of them. It is so fun to hear peoples' stories and we were so happy after our visit with them!
SUNDAY - We visited Ilana, had church which was honestly so fantastic. We felt like we were truly prepared for church and the Sacrament and it was a revelatory experience!
We then had dinner with a member, and the woman we visited earlier that week who has been less active for 20 years, came to the dinner too! The woman who made the dinner is the one that fed us Christmas brunch, and she is the cutest and sweetest woman. She went all out and decorated the table and made it a "lovely ladies dinner."
We had another lesson with Flor and it was so great! She is so wonderful!
Congratulations if you made it this far! I am sorry that this was so long!! I hope that you all have a great, happy week!!
Love you all so much!
Sister Chelsea Akin
MONDAY - Family Home Evening with Tanya and her family and quick member visit!
TUESDAY - Breakfast with that same member at a place called Bagel Cafe. It was cute and hipster like. This member needs to feel loved and needed. I am realizing that a lot of people don't feel loved or needed, and that is the root of a lot of things they struggle with. I just want to love everyone with all my heart - love is a powerful thing!
We then had interviews with our mission president, which were fantastic. He is the greatest person and I am so grateful for him. I love him so much and I am grateful that Heavenly Father sent me here at this time, so that I can be his missionary. He is truly so great!!
A recent convert from Sri Lanka named Kumare then fed us a multicultural lunch and it was delicious! She fed us curry, basmati rice, fried chicken, yucca (has the texture of a potato), salad and some other things. I have realized that I love curry so much! She is the sweetest woman and she is so happy! The gospel has truly changed her life and her joy just continues to increase. She also has such amazing trust in her Heavenly Father which I look up to so much. She has had a lot of hard things happen to her since her baptism but she always says that God is in control and He is making her life better.
We also had a lesson with Bettina and she is still doing great! She is nervous about getting baptized because she is paralyzed on the right side. We are going to take her to the church that has the baptismal font, to show her how it will go and to help her feel more at ease about it. She won't be getting baptized this Saturday anymore, but at the beginning of February instead. She is so wonderful!
We had dinner with a member family that night and the family reminded me of Michelle and Greg's family. It was so wonderful and I felt so at home there!
We then visited a less active woman, who has been less active for about 20 years since her divorce. Since then, she has gone to multiple churches and read so many books about how to be happy and feel a connection with God, but she still feels so far away from Him. She admitted that she knows what she needs to do to feel close to Him again, but she doesn't want to change right now. For some reason, I feel like I connected really well with her, and it was really easy to talk to her. She is training for a half marathon, so we talked about that a lot which was so fun! It is weird to think and talk about my former life where I used to run half marathons, and I feel like that was so long ago. Sometimes I feel like I am forgetting everything about my life before the mission, but that's okay. I know all will work out, and that I need to be here now with all my heart, might, mind and soul! I love this woman so much already and I am grateful that Heavenly Father led us to visit her.
We also tracted into a man who is less active, and that was so fun! We taught him a lesson at his door since he was the only one home, and the Spirit was so strong as we stood there. He also came to church on Sunday which was fantastic!
Heavenly Father gave me a strong impression that night that we need to work more with those who are less active in our area and work on rescuing. I love this work and I love working with these individuals. I want them to taste the fruit of the gospel again and feel the exceeding joy that comes from living the gospel and having a remission of sins (see Mosiah 3 - it is amazing!).
WEDNESDAY - District Meeting today!! Always a fun day! We then tried to see Kumare's roommate who wants to meet with us, but she randomly left and didn't come back before our next appointment (don't worry-you'll hear about her again!). We then did some tracting and then had dinner with a member family and we ate split pea soup. They are a really great family, and they have three daughters who are so adorable! The oldest one that is 5, told us that she just thinks the gospel is so amazing and she is so excited to get baptized. She asked us a lot of questions about it, and shared some things she had written about how she loves her parents even when they are mad at her. It was actually very sophisticated and deep writing, especially for a 5 year old!
We then had a lesson with Bettina at a member's home and had another lesson with Tanya and her family!
THURSDAY - We helped a woman who is less active, put away all her Christmas decorations in the morning. The woman's name is Jenny and she is from Bolivia. She is so sweet and nice, and she paid us for our work in chocolate truffles :) (even though I promise we didn't ask for any type of pay!)
We then visited Ilana and that was very interesting. She is still coming to church, but she feels very distant right now. I don't know how to explain it, but I just feel so far away from her right now. We have been praying a lot about how to help her, and we keep just feeling that we need to love her (which is what Mom and Dad said too!). I love her so much, and I am just doing all I can to show it.
We came home for a late lunch that afternoon, to find a letter and package of hot tamales from Mom!!! I loved it so so much!!! I love Hot Tamales so much and I might have eaten a lot of them already! It was such a wonderful surprise and it made me so happy!
We did some tracting and then went to a dinner appointment at a member's home. She is recently married and her husband leaves for 3 months at a time to a country in the middle east. He is currently gone, so we just had a nice cozy dinner with her.
We then had another lesson with Bettina, and then we went to Kumare's to have a lesson with her roommate, and her roommate was there!! Her name is Flor, and she is 20 years old. She has two little girls, one that is 5 and the other is 2. She is so great and we had a really good conversation/lesson with her. We love her so much and we are so excited to teach her!!
That night after planning, we made a cake for Tanya since it was her birthday the next day! We made a three tiered cake, with a layer of brownie on the bottom, cake next, and another layer of brownie and cake mixed together. We then covered it with white frosting and black decorative frosting, so it was a classy black and white cake! (You probably all are really concerned about what kind of cake we made her and how we decorated it, so there you go! :)
FRIDAY - We helped Jenny finish putting her Christmas decorations away and then she insisted that she take us out to breakfast. She took us to a place called Virginia Kitchen and it was a cute little diner! As you can see, a big theme of my e-mails seems to be that we teach people and we eat!
We then had another lesson with Bettina and gave her the Book of Mormon on CD to listen to since she can't read very well. She was so excited and she loved it!
We then did some weekly planning and finished decorating Tanya's cake! Afterwards, we went out to dinner with Tanya and her family and had a really great dinner at this place called Sweetwater in Sterling. Afterwards, we had her birthday cake, played a game and that was our night!
SATURDAY - The stake had a breakfast for all the missonaries at the stake center, and it was great!
We then finished our weekly planning, had dinner with another less active member named Margaret and visited a member family. Margaret had a lot of family over and it was fun to talk to all of them. It is so fun to hear peoples' stories and we were so happy after our visit with them!
SUNDAY - We visited Ilana, had church which was honestly so fantastic. We felt like we were truly prepared for church and the Sacrament and it was a revelatory experience!
We then had dinner with a member, and the woman we visited earlier that week who has been less active for 20 years, came to the dinner too! The woman who made the dinner is the one that fed us Christmas brunch, and she is the cutest and sweetest woman. She went all out and decorated the table and made it a "lovely ladies dinner."
We had another lesson with Flor and it was so great! She is so wonderful!
Congratulations if you made it this far! I am sorry that this was so long!! I hope that you all have a great, happy week!!
Love you all so much!
Sister Chelsea Akin
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