Sister Jenna Chadderton

14 August 2012

Family!

Thank you for all the emails and especially for the Olympic updates. Quite proud of our little country really. Life on this side of the world is great. I will try and update you as quick as I can. This week has flown by and I can't believe it is Monday again. That is so cool about the Family Home Evening idea to have a mini olympics for Hinalei. It made me laugh reading about her, "God of Mation's!" I can just see that and Baby Joe is so stinkin cute!!!!

Monday - was P-Day and it was a good day. We went food shopping (woohoo) and then thrift store shopping and I managed to find a red winter coat, fully lined for $5! It was a score. Then that night we had dinner with an awesome family who have 4 boys - the oldest being 16 and the parents always encourage them about one day serving a mission and it is awesome. Then we saw Lindsey again and answered a lot more of her questions, then the night was over.

Tuesday was District meeting because we had a training on Friday so it was moved to Tuesday. Then we went and saw a less active family and picked apricots. It was Anthony's birthday today and we were invited to stay for cake and ice cream after our visit. It was nice to casually get to know his parents, then later we had dinner and went on splits with some of the young adults from the YSA Ward. It was cool because we met some potential investigators which was a good use of our time. The people we tried to meet weren't home.

Wednesday was weekly planning, then our night was going to be so busy with appointments we moved our dinner appointment to a lunch appointment, so we went to lunch, then we went and saw Aimee who is a recent convert. I am struggling to find a teaching/ learning style for her because it seems everything we do is boring to her, so I need added inspiration on how to make it a little more fun. After Aimee, we went and taught Linda the second half of the restoration . It was awesome actually, especially because it was in a members home and the spirit was so strong, then we got dropped back to the church building only to find out all our other appointments cancelled on us. So we said a prayer to try and learn where we needed to be, and low and behold we both felt we needed to go and visit Michelle. So, we went to her house and she is normally never home, but she was this time and she asked if the Relief Society President had sent us and we assured her that the Lord had sent us. She said she really needed to see us today. It was quite cool. We listened to her for quite some time and it was so interesting because we asked about her conversion story because she is a less active recent convert. We asked why she wasn't coming to church anymore and this kind of stomped her but she said she couldn't put it down to anything so it gave her some food for thought. I love seeing the way the Lord answers peoples prayers and how cancelled appointments always mean that their is somewhere else for us to be. The night ended with us seeing my favorite person Carol who told us she is moving. So thats not cool.

Thursday we had leadership training, so Sister Howard picked me up and we went to leadership training all day while Sister Lee (Sister Howard's companion) stayed with Sister Bishaw for the day. After leadership training I went on exchanges with Sister Romine-Furr who is serving in Nampa and we had to put into practice what we were trained on that day. It was a really good exchange and I actually like Sister Romine-Furr.

Friday morning, Sister Romine-Furr made us breakfast - spoilt aye? And then we went back to the second day of leadership training, then we were going to stop and have lunch on the way home, but the traffic was so bad it was pointless. Idaho decided to do roadworks all at the same time on every major intersection so its been slow moving traffic for days now. Anyways, we got to our 1:00 p.m. appointment a little late, but the appointment itself was good because we were seeing Charmaine again and it has been around 6 weeks since we last saw her. So that was cool. Then we saw Craige, then we had dinner, then we had another appointment that night with a less active family along with two other less active families. We taught a few lessons so it was good. Its really interesting trying to understand why people choose not to come to church anymore. No valid excuses really. But still, I feel they hinder their spiritual progress for a load of non-sense.

Saturday turned out to be a busy day. We had breakfast with the Stake President first thing, then we went to a baptism in our Stake, then we delivered progress records, then we went and saw Taryn for the first time in 2 weeks, then we came home and we were going to have dinner with the Christensen's that night and as we got to the house, Brother Christensen said that the car had just jumped into the cabinets they have in their garage so their is a huge dent in the front of the car and the cabinets are destroyed. They said they were pulling into the garage and all of a sudden the car did this weird leap frog thing into their cabinets. Sister Christensen was shaken because she was the one driving, but in all of that they still had dinner on the bench for us. My goodness the love people have for the missionaries is amazing. That night we went to the Elders baptism and that's where I met Sister Tolman and we saw the Sager family too - love them. It was a good end to the night.

Sunday was pretty busy with six hours of church, followed by lunch and dinner and a correlation meeting and a lesson. In a nut shell. And then last night Irene, and Megan Wright and Megan Weaver called to say they are taking us out to lunch today. Woohoo! I am so excited!!!!! This last week has flown by and this is already week 4 of the transfer and honestly this transfer is going so quick. Oh so I have to tell you what happened on Monday. I got a text from the Earl family saying that they have set their endowment date for October 27th and their sealing date for January 11th. When I got that text I was like, "Their is my answer. I am staying until February because I'm not missing their sealing!" So, I felt so at peace about the whole thing. Then Wednesday Sister Westover text and said that they are now getting endowed and sealed on the same day - October 27th! But still February feels right. So, family, plan on February 21st! Pretty confident that that is when the Lord will say I am done with my full time mission.

I love you all. Thank you for your constant support and love. Take care, Sister J Chadderton xoxo

Most of these pictures are self explanatory.

001 - Me outside our house.

002 - My companion and I

003 - Jumping Zone picture

004 - Zone picture

005 - Anthony's birthday cake

006 - Sister Tolman and I

Love you all!

7 August 2012

Hey Family,

Thank you for all your emails and great to hear Sister N arrived safely and she is settling well into the MTC. I know she will love the MTC. Anyway's my week has been good (actually really good) with lots of spiritual confirmations and experiences that helped build my testimony.

Monday night after P-Day, we visited the Sager family and then we had about 30 minutes left in our day and we didn't want to go home. We were just about to give up and then decided to go and try this one referral that was never home when we visited her so tonight another miracle - she was home - and she invited us in and we taught her so many lessons. It was incredible that she was intrigued everything we taught her. It was a great ending to the night and we will definitely be going back.

Tuesday was a little hectic where it was one of those days where we had hourly appointments planned from about 10:00 a.m. onwards but our 10:00 a.m. appointment cancelled so our first lesson was now at 11:00 a.m. The appointment took us out of our area only because the family requested Sister Missionaries to teach their two girls - 12 year old Linda and her sister Veronica who is 10'ish. The girls want to be baptized but their Dad's counsel is that they need to take things slow. We are just teaching the girls for now but I believe baptism will come later. After the lesson we met two new investigators - Dillon and Tyson who were former investigators. Their mum moved back into our area so we are going to resume teaching them, and then they too will be baptized soon enough. After that we were supposed to see Anthony but he was working and hadn't let us know so instead we did some tracting. Then we had dinner, then we went and met with a less active lady named Michelle. We had such a cool lesson with Michelle and she knows what she should be doing, but because she works on Sunday's she hasn't been able to come to church. Then Alyssa Moncur took us to another appointment and the investigator wasn't their so we taught the less active girlfriend instead. Overall a busy but fruitful day.

Wednesday was another awesome day. The highlight of the day was with Anissa. Her husband was the one who wrote the Thesis on what wasn't true about our Church, and she asked us to research where in the Bible it talks about people seeing God and living. I was so skeptical at first to show her all the stuff I had researched because I didn't want it to seem as if we were Bible bashing, so instead we started by reading the account of Jospeh Smiths first vision, then we went slowly through references in the Bible that talked about people seeing God, and it was awesome. The Spirit was so strong and it confirmed to me the truth of what we were teaching. The Lord definitely is the same yesterday, today and forever and it was just a rock building moment for my testimony because as much as I already knew all this, it was confirmed to me again that Jospeh Smith truly did see God the Father and Jesus Christ and being able to research it was awesome. The rest of the day was good. But the spirit in that lesson was powerful. That night we saw Ben and because he is a navy man we got a whole lesson on the navy which was pretty funny but good.

Thursday was my 1-year mark so we went out to lunch to Cafe Rio! It is an awesome restaurant and the food was good. That night we taught a couple of lessons but the day wasn't as eventful as I would have liked it to have been, especially because we spent a lot of time on weekly planning. But I still can't believe that I've been out on my mission now for a whole year already. I was reading my journal around this time last year and its funny how things have changed. And I've realized that all my jounal entries from a year ago are so dumb because I wrote things like, "The spirit was amazing today in our lesson!" And that was it. I didn't expand on the lesson or who we taught it to or anything. So, clearly I need to improve on my journal writing skills. Lol

Friday we had Zone training, then we taught some of our recent converts and then visited with Anthony where we watched the DVD, "The Testaments" and he loved it! Then we taught a few more recent converts that night. Overall, it was a slowish kind of day.

Saturday we tracted pretty much the whole day and it was actually enjoyable. We tracted into this one guy and we asked him if he had a religion and he said yes, ah yeah, ah yeah i do! So we asked him what religion it was and then he said he had no religion, none, its nothing, I dont have one. And I kept thinking to myself, "Seriously, I can't believe I'm having this conversation with you!" But anyways he clearly wasn't interested . It was a miracle that we survived the day though.

Sunday, I had another rock building testimony moment. We taught Viet who was studying to be a Catholic priest for 14 years, but he isn't studying anymore and we were teaching him the first lesson aout the Restoration and Joseph Smith and the spirit was so strong, but he kept talking about his Church and his authority and why do we need a restoration if the Catholic church is already on the earth. I kid you not, I felt like standing up and throwing the Book of Mormon at him. Fortunately, I didn't and I remained as calm as possible and we asked him to hold on to his questions until after the lesson and encouraged him that before he tries to question the Church to please read the Book of Mormon. Despite my frustration, It ended up being quite a cool exprience because I was very worked up after we got out of the lesson because of how faulty his logic was and how stubborn he was being, but then I decided that I knew what is right and I'm not going to let him pull me into any form of debate. It made me grateful for the testimony that I do have, that Joseph Smith truly did see God the Father and Jesus Christ and that his true priesthood has been restored on the earth and that the Book of Mormon was preserved for our day. It was just an awesome experience. Then we went to our YSA Ward sacrament meeting and it was all about missionary work and how amazing the Sister Missionaries are and it was a very humbling experience. The day finished good.

Overall a good week. Solidfied my testimony that I already thought was solid. I love you family and I hope you like the pictures. Have a good week and stay safe. Love you, Sister Chadderton xoxo

001 - Skype pics

002 - More skype pics

004 - 005 - Us at Cafe Rio (Barb Webb and Tania Bovee)

006 - My polkadot dress (got it for $4)

007 - Random object in the sky

008 - Cast on

009 - Cast off

31 July 2012

Hey Family,

It was good to hear that Sister Nicola Chadderton is on her way to the MTC. From her itinerary it would appear that she is now at the LA airport chilling out as she awaits her flight to Salt Lake City. I am so glad the farewell was good and it was good to see you all on Skype yesterday.

Okay, so a quick recap of my week. Monday was P-Day and that evening we had Sister Martinez - a sister missionary ready to return home - spend time with us. Sister Bergstrom came and visited us too and it was cool seeing them again. Later that evening we went and taught some lessons and then returned home. It was a good night and we were in a members home towards the end of the night and their sons had turned on this loud rock type music and I just could not sit there listening to it so I waited a little outside because my companions were just talking and finishing off planning our next appointment. It is really obvious what environment the spirit dwells in. It was quite a stressful but busy P-Day so I think the music just pushed me over the edge a little. But all good. We finally went home and it was bed time!

Tuesday was a little crazy. We had breakfast with the Webbs, then we went to an appointment that we had with a lady but she wasn't home so we decided to go to lunch, then we member tracted a subdivison and met some really cool people. Later we met with Anthony and then it was dinner before our appointment with Ben who is our most recent convert, and then we had to run to the Mission office to get the new Sisters as they were going to spend the night at our place. So, all 5 of us jumped in the car and we went back to Meridian and it was cool. We had like a little testimony meeting that evening and it was just neat to finish the night with a great abundance of the spirit.

The next morning we had to drop the new sisters back to the Mission office by 8:00 a.m. so it was a bit tight with all five of us trying to get ready in an hour and a half, but we managed to do it. In all our rushing, one of the new Sisters left her badge and scriptures at our place so while she was in breakfast/ training we went home, grabbed her stuff, took it back to the Mission office, then headed home again to start studies for the day. We saw a few people later in the day and one was a less active lady who said she really needs help coming back to church so I am grateful for her willingness to try that. Then we dropped Sister Martinez off at the Mission Office and said goodbye to her, then we went on splits with some Sisters in the YSA Ward and it was really awesome. We met a lot of new people and then it was dinner time again before going to see Jesse. The lessons are slowly improving and we were praying intently that the spirit would be with us during the lesson and it was, so that was awesome.

Thursday, it was just my companion and I so we did our weekly planning, then we went and member tracted another one of our Wards and met so many people who have such awesome stories of how the gospel has truly blessed their lives. Then we had a Correlation meeting with the Stake High Councilmen and the meeting seemed more of a reminder for the leaders that they can do more to help the work move forward. Later we went and saw Taryn and she is doing great. Then it was home time and honestly, I feel like this week is flying by.

Friday, we had District meeting and I like our new District. We had a few lessons lined up followed by dinner where this one family took us to a Chinese buffet. It was so good and Sushi all around! Then we tried to teach a few lessons that night but everyone was busy so it was time for us to retire for the night so we went home.

Saturday we had a similarly crazy day. We had lunch with a Senior couple in one of the Wards and the spirit in their home was awesome, then we saw Craige, then we had dinner with the McMullin's who are also a Senior couple in our District, but it was only Sister McMullin home, but honestly it was an awesome dinner. She made Salmon and she gave us some pretty sound advice about families. Then we taught another lesson after that and then it was home time.

Sunday saw us at church at 9:00 a.m. then again at 1:00 p.m. and then I got to Skype home, then we went to our dinner appointment, then we went and visited some referrals and set up return appointments. It was cool and I am excited about the potential we have in this area. Then the night was over.

All in all I cannot believe how quick this week has gone and this new week will go even quicker. I love you all heaps. Thanks again for your support and I honestly loved seeing you all yesterday. Take care, Sister Chadderton xoxoxo

24 July 2012

Family!

Another week in Meridian because I am not being transferred so I am here for another 6 weeks. I am so excited about it because I was definitely not ready to leave this area. I still feel like my work is not done. Some exciting news for the week is that the re-dedication of the Boise Temple was announced and its going to be on November 18th, which means the Open House will be from October 13th - November 10th so heres hoping we get to meet the Prophet. There are rumours floating around that the sister missionaries will get to do the tours of the temple but we haven't heard anything offical so who knows. But thats exciting news. And Sister Bishaw and I are excited to stay together. WOOHOO! This has been a pretty good week where we have been very busy and have l taught a lot of people.

Monday we were just finishing up P-Day and we were trying to find something to have for dinner because we didn't have a dinner appointment that night. We get a call from a sister and she said she was expecting us for dinner so she came and picked us up and took us to Panda Express where we ordered food to takeaway and then she dropped us home. It was quite funny in a way but awesome. After dinner we went to the YSA FHE and it was so cool because we got to teach a lesson to a few people there and we met a lot more of the Ward members. President Cannon has asked that our priority be the YSA Ward so that's what we are doing. Then we visited with a less active sister before going home.

Tuesday we had a list of people we needed to try and visit and we found the majority of them at home so we got a lot of progress made and then went and taught Anthony in his home - which is huge, and the spirit was there and it was great. Ben's baptismal interview was next and he passed and we shared a talk with him afterwards, and then somehow we got talking about people giving birth, and I'm sitting their thinking how does this kid know so much about labour and delivery, because he said he was in the navy. I then realized that he was a Medic in the Navy, hence his wealth of knowledge. That night we stopped by a few homes of our less actives and made appointments to do a return visit and then we called it a night.

Wednesday we had Zone training which is kinda like Zone conference. We were trained on the ins and outs of weekly planning and how essential planning is and honestly, for the first time in my mission I actually understood why they stress the importance of planning so much. It truly helped me gain an appreciation for proper planning. I guess I knew that planning was important but it's always good to be reminded. My goal is not to complain about planning, but to enjoy it as I sometimes find myself complaining during our planning meetings. After the training we went and did service for Julie where we helped clean her bathroom. Julie is slightly blind and when she thinks something is clean it is, but in my mind it can be cleaner. So, we scrubbed the bathroom head to toe and she was like, "Wow, its so white in here! I hope I don't lose my sight anytime soon." So funny! That night we had dinner at IHOP which was cool because the people who took us out brought a non member friend with them and the waitress for some unknown reason stops and shares her testimony about God with us, and she isn't even LDS so before leaving we gave the waitress our name and number. It was a cool experience. Following dinner we went and taught Jesse who is a non member and I am feeling a little apprehensive about the whole situation but here's trusting the Lord will make happen what needs to happen. That night we drove to Middleton because we were going on exchanges. So, I stayed in Middleton for the night with Sister Dickey and Sister Bishaw drove back to Meridian with Sister Whitman.

Thursday I was in Middleton all day and it was a really cool experience. Sister Dickey challenged my intellect in so many ways and it was awesome. She is a new missionary and has only been out as long as Sister Bishaw and I loved her level of analysis because she had taken on a lot of things and it was just really awesome to be on exchanges with her. I realised that we are similar in many ways and if we are ever companions it will be cool because it was a really good exchange. We taught some powerful lessons together. Then we got a text telling us about the temple dedication dates, then we headed back to Meridian. Sister Whitman and Sister Dickey left and as Sister Bishaw and I were planning we realized that Sister Whitman had taken our cell phone with her in her bag, and it was on silent. So, we had no phone numbers written anywhere because they are all in the phone. So we rushed over to the Elders place and luckily they had the Sisters number so we called them and they turned around and dropped our phone back to us. They handed the phone to us and said they just got transfer calls. So, transfers came a day early. We ran downstairs to our room to listen to the message on our phone and we learnt we were staying together and it was music to our ears. The night ended good. An exchange really makes you appreciate your companion a lot more and I feel like we have more energy and more gratitude for each other knowing we are staying together.

Friday! What a day! We did some service first thing in the morning, then we taught several recent convert lessons and then we went to dinner. We were sitting at dinner and I had mentioned how I grew up in Samoa and the Dad of the family says, "Oh, so did you learn to speak the language that Samoans speak?" He's like, "Wait, I know what it's called...... Oh Tongan, they speak Tongan in Samoa. Did you learn Tongan?" And I kid you not, it took every ounce of self control that I possessed to keep me from laughing. I shoved something in my mouth and just smiled and let the emotions subside so I could answer his question, and I said, "I never really learnt the Tongan language." I didn't have the heart to tell him that Samoan's speak Samoan. But that definitely made my day.

Saturday we did weekly planning and honestly it was probably the most effective weekly planning session I have ever done. Then we delivered progress records, had dinner, then we had Ben's baptism. We were in the Library photocopying the programs and we walk back to the room where the baptism is being held and President and Sister Cannon are there, our Zone Leaders are there, the Stake President is there, and the Bishop. Talk about an overwhelming experience. But honestly his mum and one of his friends were about the only non members in the room and while he was changing after being baptized, we showed a DVD about Christ's life and then we bore our testimonies and the coolest part was the overwhelming sense of the spirit that was present. You just felt it wrap around everyone in the room. The girl who was assigned to speak about the Holy Ghost cried through her entire talk and we learnt that she may have been less active but we didn't know for sure but she gave such a powerful talk. It was amazing and this baptism was possibly one of my most favorite baptisms to date if that's even possible. We visited Carol after the baptism and then we were done for the night.

Sunday we went to a few different Wards, especially the YSA Ward so that we could see Ben get confirmed and while we were greeting people we had two people ask us for Books of Mormon to give to their friends. After Sacrament Ben informed us that while his mum is not interested in the lesson's she wanted a Book of Mormon so that was awesome. After church all our appointments for the rest of the day cancelled on us even our dinner appointment cancelled. We managed to visit other people and teach lessons and its interesting how the Lord's hand works. We made a list at the beginning of the week of people we wanted to see and we had tried to see them every day this past week, but it wasn't until Sunday when we actually caught up with them and low and behold it was the right time. It is so cool seeing the Lord's hand in everything.

Overall, this week has been awesome. I am excited about staying in Meridian. Cola, you will do great things on your mission and I will definitely call around my 2:30 p.m. - 3:00 p.m my Sunday your Monday because we have appointments later that day. So, I am excited to see all your faces again. I love you all so much and am so grateful for the support I get from everyone. The weather is definitely hot enough for me right now and I am not complaining. Take care, Sister Chadderton xoxoxox

008 - Not ready for the picture

009 - Ready for the picture. (Me, Kirsten (Ben's girlfriend, Ben, and Sister Bishaw)

Family!

008 - Not ready for the picture

009 - Ready for the picture. (Me, Kirsten (Ben's girlfriend, Ben, and Sister Bishaw)

012 - Carol and I.

17 July 2012

Family!

Woohoo! Its email time again. Thank you for all your emails and it's always good to know that you are all alive and well. This past week has been good but not as eventful as others. So, this email may not be as long as others. Before I forget, "Mum can you send me the recipe for Pavlova please. There is another recipe I want but I can't remember which one. HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOE!!!!!!! I did in fact post you a present last week so look out for that in the mail. I'm not a real cool present buyer but its the thought that counts right?

So, last Monday for P-Day, we were all ready to go biking but we had to figure out how to put the bike rack on the car and it was already 11.30 a.m. The Elders offered to help us if we would drop them home after, so we did that, except then we got stuck in traffic, so we didn't get home for a long time, thus it was even later and hotter and then everyone we were to go with bailed out on us so we decided to take a rain check on the bike ride. Which actually worked out in our favor because I myself organized and was able to write to the people that I hadn't written to in ages. I've sent all my baptism programs home and I've also replied to the Young Women and have sent the letters to our home address because I didn't have any of their addresses. They are all in individual envelopes with pictures and stuff so if you can give them to the Young Women that would be cool. I also received the letters from the YSA and I will reply one day. That night we had dinner and FHE with a family then contacted a few other people before calling it a night. The time seemed to go so quickly.

Tuesday was Sister Christensen's birthday and we bought her a card and I gave her some New Zealand chocolate. Then we taught some lessons to less actives and recent converts which were great. We saw Anthony and he is still doing good and I'm hoping he gets approval before September to be baptized. We went and saw Ben and organized his baptism. He is excited for his baptism so thats always a good thing. We also met up with the lovely Pine Family (SHOUT OUT TO MY PINE FAMILY) who were in Boise for the week. We went to a Chinese buffet so I will attach pictures of that. I love that family! That night we had a correlation meeting and then taught a lesson to one of our less actives.

Wednesday we had a lunch appointment with a lady that we are currently teaching and she, along with another lady took us to this Sushi restaurant. The sushi was incredible but I do think the one at Haleiwa Joe's in Hawaii is better. I was kinda in sushi heaven. We went and saw Julie, visited some referrals only to find that none of them were home. Okay so funny story (well, maybe it's not funny but still), we forgot to buy toilet paper on Monday and we hadn't checked the cupboard to know if we were running low. Everyone is always saying, "Do you sisters need anything?" Honestly, we never do, but this time we thought if anyone asks we would say, "We need toilet paper!" So we are visiting with this one lady and she hands us her phone number and she kept saying, "Sisters, if you need anything please let us know!" I kept thinking to myself, "I'm not asking her for toilet paper thats dumb!" Then she said it again and my companion looked at me and then the lady stepped out of the room and she said please sisters if you need anything don't hesistate, so I finally plucked up the courage and said, "Well we do actually need something, we need toilet paper?" She's like, "Oh my goodness let me go check!" So, she runs downstairs and comes back up with 2 half rolls and so she asks if we can wait while she goes to the store to get some. We had to get to a dinner appointment so we couldn't stay but she indeed left a pack of toilet paper on our door step. Note to self, "Don't forget to buy toilet paper on P-Day!" The members are awesome in helping the missionaries. That night we did service and got to iron to my hearts content. The people couldn't believe that I actually liked ironing. I said well you have my mum to thank for that because she made sure we ironed everything. So, I am grateful I know how to iron.

Thursday was weekly planning and then we attended a funeral. Such a sad experience and I've decided that I don't like funerals and that I would rather not go to any. But at the same time I am grateful to know that death isn't the end. After the funeral we visited a lady by the name of Missy who isn't all that interested in being baptized but she likes the missionaries and we appreciate her. That night the Christensen's took us out for Sister Christensen's birthday and we went to the Cheesecake factory. (It would appear that we have eaten out alot this week). Following dinner we went to see Taryn and she is doing good. The temperature today was extremely hot and we had walked almost every where today.

Friday was our last District meeting before transfers and we had lunch with the Senior couple in our District then we went and visited Lois, saw Craige, and visited a few less actives before dinner and later visited Carol - my favorite person, then it was home time. It was a very busy day. Busy, but great!

Saturday saw us having lunch at Subway, then we delivered some progress records, did some service, visited the Sager family, then did more service/ teaching lessons. It was a bit of a low key but Sunday made up for it.

Sunday, we went to a few different Wards and after our second Ward, we went to visit a referral who wanted to have the lessons and that was exciting. He is excited so we will wait and see what happens. We taught some awesome lessons this day and the spirit was really strong. I don't know how else to describe how awesome it is to feel the spirit in lessons. Honestly, it is my favorite thing to feel the spirit in our lessons. Then we had dinner then taught a few more lessons before heading home.

Today we played tennis. Woohoo! You would have been proud of me mother! My partner and I won our doubles match and I was about to whip an Elder in singles but I decided I would never hear the end of it, so I let him win. But he knows there is a rematch coming. My companion isn't big on tennis so she didn't play. It was cool and I had fun. Tonight we're doing some service for the Christensen's and we have some good things planned that we will do. Friday this coming week we get transfer calls so next week you will know whats happening with me. Pretty sure I'm sticking around Meridian for a bit longer, but you never know. Overall a good week!

Good to hear you are all doing well. Keep taking care of yourself and I will attach pictures. I love you all. I can't beleive its nearly been a whole year and I can't believe Cola leaves so soon! Love you all. Take care, and enjoy the temple and the gym for me. I am highly jealous. Oh and I have funny tan lines now. Haha. Love you, Sister Chadderton xoxo

Not many pictures this week but here you go.

001 - Package from Aeroview Ward Young Women

002 - With Maryann. Shes awesome.

003 - The Pine family - serious picture!

004 - The Pine family - crazy picture!

10 July 2012

Hello Family,

Woohoo for P-Day! My companion and I are emailing first thing this morning because we are going for a bike ride. There is a bike trail along the Boise River so we've borrowed some bikes and are going to be adventurous and bike along that trail. It should be fun. The temperature is suppose to get up to 104 degrees fahrenheit today (40 degrees celsius) so its going to be a scorcher of a day. Hopefully, I can take some pictures and send them to you all next week. Well, this past week has been good and did I mention that I received the package from Chantelle Hooper and I also got the package from the Aeroview Ward Young Women on the same day. They were awesome. So, "THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!!" I have been restocked with chocolates, so thanks again.

Monday was P-Day - got the packages, went shopping and brought 3 dresses from Down East Basics and they are nice dresses. They were on sale and then another 30% off the sale price so it made me happy. After shopping we came home and chilled for the rest of P-Day. That night we taught a lesson and did some tracting and met a lady who didn't want anything to do with us but as we stood and listened to her she softened and by the end of the visit she was offering us meals. She doesn't want the discussions but we did have a prayer with her and it was cool to recognize the spirit soften her heart.

Tuesday was a crazy day. We contacted one of our referrals and as we knocked on their door you hear someone yell from the inside, "Who is it?" We replied, "It's the sister missionaries" but no one came to the door, so we knocked again and then they said the same thing and we replied the same way and finally they opened the door and were like, "Oh, please come in, we're keeping family out!" It seemed a little hilarious but glad we weren't family and got to go inside. We visited with the lady and talked a little about baptism and confirmation and she was interested and didn't know why people wouldn't want to feel forgiven of their sins. It was incredible. Actually it was really cool. Lunch was next and then we went to visit with the guy who just moved here from Texas as we are planning his baptism for July 21st so that will be good. He literally was taught everything so this is a cool experience and gift from the Lord. Then we saw a few LA people, had dinner, and went home early because we were going to make banana bread for the Elders. So a funny story, "My companion and I were struggling with showing respect to the AP's and our District leader so after a lot of contemplating and praying, we were inspired to, "Kill them with kindness" and so we baked them Banana Bread.

Wednesday - Independence Day July 4th - we attended a missionary training all day and when we saw the AP's we told them we had a gift for them and now they are our new best friends. Pretty sure anything we needed all day they literally did for us and this week they have called us just about every day for something or other so if you are having a hard time showing charity to someone, anyone, bake something for them. The District leader is progressing and I'm also doing my part in looking for the good in people. Well, a little about the 4th of July, the training was good and after the training we went to our dinner appointment and I was so excited to see how American's celebrate independence day but it turned out that we actually had dinner with a Canadian family. It was hillarious to me and we did celebrate the 4th of July just Canadian style. After dinner we did service with Carol and then headed home, got ready for bed and managed to catch 2 fireworks go off before hopping into bed. I kid you not the minute our heads hit the pillow you hear this almighty, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM" and all the fireworks went off all at once and I was just grateful that we live in the basement. I said a prayer that the fireworks would appear silent to me and fell straight to sleep. Funny though because we talked to a lot of other people the next day who said they were kept up until 1:00 a.m. because of the fireworks. I know Heavenly Father definitely answered my prayers. He knows I need my beauty sleep.

Thursday was weekly planning and we went to go visit Tara but she was busy so we quickly stopped by and saw Missy and she was in tears because she really needed upliftment from the spirit. It was actually a cool experience to see how being in the right place at the right time actually is powerful. We shared a lesson and scripture with her then, we went and visited some other people, taught some lessons and ended the night with correlation. It was a good night.

Friday was district meeting. It was good and our district leader committed us to find and set a baptismal date with a new investigator this week so that will be interesting. The summers here are weird because everyone is in transit for about 3 months so our normal appointments are all over the show. Anyways, we visited who we could and then called it a night.

Saturday we went from having nothing planned to having a full day planned. We got to see Taryn and you can see the difference that her baptism has made in her life. Honestly, it was cool. We taught her a lesson about family history and she really didn't want us to leave but overall it was just cool to see that things do work out and that things do get better. We tried to contact a referal, then we taught a few lessons and did some service. It was a good day.

Sunday was church and in the first sacrament meeting that we attended the Bishop was released and a new one called so that was a neat experience. They both bore powerful testimonies and their wives bore powerful testimonies too. We attended a few different Wards that day then we went and contacted another referral and she was hesitant to have us in her home, then we did more service in helping someone move, then we taught a few lessons and we taught Ashlee for the first time since her baptism and she is doing great. We then called it a night / week. The Christensens were out of town all week and returned home last night and it was so cool to catch up with them. Its Sis Christensen's birthday on Tuesday so they've invited us for dinner on Thursday with them. I love the Christensen's and I'm glad they're home.

That's my week and I did recognize this week that I've been a little hard on myself where I let a few things get to me that shouldn't have, but I'm slowly learning that I need to be more patient with people because everyone's learning abilities are different. But honestly, I am learning a lot about God's love for me and how I am trying not to disappoint him. It has been another good week. I have alot of baptism programs to send home so I will do that soon. I love you family and Idaho is stinking hot but I would rather the heat then the cold for sure. I am glad you are going to the temple weekly. I haven't been to the temple since May and it doesn't look like I will get to go any time soon. The next time would probably be either October or November with the Earl family. I love you all. Have an awesome week and enjoy spending time with Cola. Take care, Sister Chadderton.

3 July 2012

Family!

So good to hear you're all alive and well and that you've had some cool MTC experiences this past weekend. I am so grateful its P-Day but they seem to go by so quickly. This week has been good filled with some interesting experiences.

So, P-Day we went to play volleyball and we were setting up the nets and one of the Elders said, "Hey I've just realized that we don't have a volleyball!" I just thought to myself, "Are you serious!" About an hour later we finally had a volleyball and managed to have a game. Later that evening at dinner the couple said they got married two weeks after the husband returned from his mission. It was so funny hearing their story and I thought, "No way do I think thats even possible!" After dinner, we went to the Sager's home and taught a lesson about prayer.

Tuesday, we had our morning booked with appointments and before 10:00 a.m. all our appointments cancelled and our next appointment wasn't until 3:00 p.m. It was also Craige's birthday so we got busy and made him a cake, did our studies, then while we were trying to decide what to do with our time the name Missy kept coming to mind, so we went to see her at her work but she wasn't there. There was an elderly lady named Tara working and I'd met her briefly before so we chatted a bit with her and then we asked her what her religious background was and she said she didn't have one, so we talked a bit more only to learn that she really wants someone to take the time to teach her about Jesus Christ. This blew my mind and I was so excited. We are definitely going back to teach her. At 3:00 p.m. we visited with Anthony and it was incredible. Last week we watched the DVD entitled, "On the Lord's Errand" and it's all about President Monson. Anthony borrowed it to finish watching the movie so when we got to his house he shared his testimony about how he knows President Monson is a prophet and how he was touched by the spirit as he watched the movie. It made me so happy and I was overcome with joy. Then we went and saw Craige and gave him his cake and he is doing so much better. He was on cloud nine and it was cool. Honestly, when you see how the Lord works in a converts life and how they don't really need you as missionaries anymore because they have the spirit, it's awesome. We finished the night by visiting Mallory.

Wednesday was fine. We did weekly planning and then we cleaned our car, had lunch and then went and taught some lessons. Their is this local artist and she sold me one of her paintings of idaho. She is a less active sister but I liked this particular painting so I bought it to remind me of Idaho. We had another few lessons to teach and did some service due to other appointments getting cancelled. We went to see Ashlee and finished teaching her everything she needed to know prior to her baptism. We were talking about the atonement and she hadn't heard that word before, so it was a cool experience when we used pictures to teach the atonement and to see her excitement. Crazy cool experience! You could really feel the spirit and it helped me realize that Ashlee is ready for baptism. We had 2 other ladies in attendance and once the lesson had ended they somehow got onto the topic of pregnancy and birth stories and my companion and I were just sitting there and I said, "Well, can we say a prayer because we should probably get going?" They all laughed because they realized we weren't just there to hang out and chit chat. It was a good time and I love those ladies. Another good night and when we got home we got ready for Zone Conference the next day.

Thursday was Zone Conference and we received the, "Cleanest Car" award. Funny story, so, on Wednesday we had wiped down the entire interior of our car and then took it to get the outside cleaned and vacuumed at the car wash. We pull up and the guy says, "For an extra $8.00 you can get the inside detailed and the car vacuumed!" We said, "Sure lets do it!". So they cleaned our car again and our 2010 Chevy was spotless! We get to Zone Conference and we get the award. After Zone Conference we one of the Senior Elder's takes our picture and he's like, "I noticed you even armor all'ed the tyres!" (which means like blackened the tyres). We just started laughing because we were like, "Yeah, well I guess you could say that!" Zone Conference was really good and emphasis was on knowing why we are on a mission, why we decided to come on a mission and why we are staying on a mission. It was interesting and very good food for thought. They also touched on the importance of personal and companionship study. During lunch we surprised President and Sister Cannon with a cake and sang Happy year mark because it was their 2 year mark in the mission field. That night we drove home then later went to dinner and then to a YSA sports nigh. The mission rule says no sport on days other then P-Day so we were going to observe what was happening. When we arrived everyone was playing sports outside on a field, so not alot of people were sitting down chit chatting. One girl called out to us so we went over to talk to her and we made small talk then another girl walks up and we get talking then within fifteen minutes there is a group of people around us only to realize that we had just met 2 non-members who knew nothing about missionaries. It was getting late and we had to leave and someone asked what we did and it was cool to meet someone who doesn't know what missionaries are, so it was the coolest thing to visit with a couple of the girls. One of the girls work at "Forever 21" so we are going to go shopping their today to see if we can see her again and maybe set an appointment or something. Shopping and missionary work all in one!!!!

Friday was District meeting and after that we couldn't really decide where we needed to be. One family kept coming to mind so I figured let's go and see them as it's not going to hurt us. So, we walked over their and met one of their YSA daughters who hasn't been to Church for some time now. No one else was home when we visited with her so we taught her a lesson, got her number so we can invite her to things. I was so happy that we followed the promptings of the spirit as that is what we needed to be doing. Then we had Ashlee's baptismal interview and she passed. After dinner we went and visited/ taught some other people and overall, it was a good night.

Saturday! What a day! Not sure where I begin with Saturday. So, first thing in the morning we were going to see Taryn. It was the day we were going to set her baptismal date because she had kept her commitment to read and pray every day for 3 weeks. She had nearly done a whole month of readings. We learnt that Taryn wanted to be baptized in Pocatello with her family, then we asked her when she was going to Pocatello as we wanted to make sure everything was organized for the baptism before they left. We went and picked up the District Leader so he could interview her and after the interview Taryn's mum was a little emotional. Ashlee's baptism was next and it was awesome. Such a neat experience. Then we went and had refreshments with the family and later did service and then I was so ready to just go home and relax. I got home and honestly, I could not get into bed fast enough. It was such a busy day. Sometimes being on a mission opens ones eyes to things and situations you only thought happened in a movie. I've learnt that I have a good life in comparison to what others have to deal with. But the knowledge that through the atonement things can be made right is so comforting.

Sunday was good and we went and saw Ashlee get confirmed. It was an awesome experience and in Relief Society I bore my testimony about miracles and about the amazing women the Lord has put in my life especially at this time. We went to the YSA Ward and we had a guy come up to us and say he had taken all the discussions in Texas but he hadn't been baptized. That is something we will organize. We then visited Ivy and later had a correlation meeting and then dinner with the Sager family followed by a visit to a less active sister before going home.

So, this morning for P-Day we played volleyball and now we are off to shop. I love you family. I miss you all and guess what? 11 months today!!!!! Crazy how fast this whole mission thing is going. And I am looking out for my package in the mail. Have a great week and enjoy July. OHHH just remembered, another funny story. Yesterday pretty sure we sung the national anthem 3 times, and America the Beautiful 3 times and Battle Hymn of the Republic, and then people would get up and share their testimonies about how great America is and then I got up just after 2 guys had given a patriotic testimony (this is all at the YSA Ward) and I proceeded to speak and started off by saying, "Well, I'm not an American…" then everyone laughed! It was so funny! People came up afterwards and were telling me I was hillarious. So I am still debating how appropriate that was to start a testimony but it was definitely a crowd pleaser. lol. My actual testimony was on the atonement. I love you all and have a great week and sad days because I will probably be in bed listening to all the fireworks because it doesn't get dark here until around 10:00 p.m. I think its going to be a great. "4th of July! Take care, Sister Chadderton xoxo

001- My companion and I

002 - My painting

003 - Ashlee's baptism

004 - Sister Missionaries at Ashlee's baptism