Sister Jenna Chadderton

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

26 June 2012

Family!!!!!

Yay for email day! It's been quite the week and maybe not as eventful in finding new investigators, but nonetheless, quite the week! I am so excited to email you as it was good to hear from you all and learn about your past week. I was excited to know that you enjoyed the NBA finals. I'm also glad that Sister McIver is off on her mission now. I think I will post her something so when anyone gets her MTC address can you please forward it to me. Anyway's, good to hear you are all alive and well. Just a quick update on my back progress, besides the Chiropractor and I becoming good friends due to my frequent visits to his clinic with my companion to sort out my back. It is almost 100% better and today I am going to play volleyball which is probably the first real physical activity I've done in a while (other then walking) so we will see how it goes, but honestly, it is coming along great.

Anyway's here goes the week. After P-Day last week we realized we didn't have a dinner appointment so we went home and told Sister Christensen that we didn't have a dinner appointment and said we should all just go out to dinner. So we did and it was cool. But, unbeknown to us, she paid for the whole meal which was wrong because we invited her to dinner. She said she didn't mind paying. Well, after dinner we went to Carol's house and helped clean out her fridge. So picture this - a loaded fridge (that is badly in need of a clean) that when I would pull out some dish or something with not even an inch of food left in it she would say, "No we need to keep that!" or like bottles of drink that were expired and I would say, "It's expired" and go to chuck it out and she would say, "So who says you can't eat or drink something after its expired?" I realized I'm pretty much a food snob because she wouldn't have had much left in her fridge after I cleaned it out if she wasn't watching me. I said, "My mum always says if its expired chuck it out!" She laughed, only because she is like that. We finished helping her to clean her fridge but in saying that, we put the majority of the food back in (expired and all) and she was so thrilled with what we did. It was crazy. I have several stories that I could share about Carol because she is possibly one of my favorite people here as she is so interesting.

Tuesday, we got to visit with Charmaine and it was awesome. We taught her about the gospel of Jesus Christ but my concern is that she thinks this gospel is good for us but not for her. She kept saying thats awesome you have seen it bless your life or whatever and I kept thinking it can bless your life too! But we will see what happens. I love that lady so much so it was good to be able to visit her. Then we decided to do what Elder Chadderton did and go member tracting around one of our Wards and it turned out to be really good. We got a few referrals and we also found a family that needed some service. They are moving soon, so we offered to come back and help them pack and stuff. Then we had dinner and then we went to visit a less active family. Oh my goodness we literally had just walked into the house and the lady had a smirk on her face that was really strange and then I felt the spirit leave the minute after we entered their home. I sat down and was thinking, "Oh no, what's going on here?" Before we even got a word in she started going on about something this and something that and how her weight loss is more important to her then coming to church, and I clearly wasn't paying enough attention to what she was saying (it was getting late) but as I tuned into what she was actually saying I said, "So you're not coming back to church?" She then said, "Well, not anytime soon I'm not!" (This lady was active up until about 3 weeks ago.) She then proceeded to tell us in a forceful kind of manner about how Joseph Smith got together and wrote the Book of Mormon and how the women should have the priesthood and how fake the members are when they share their testimonies and my goodness did her and her husband go on and on. I had the initial impression to just get up and yell at them and then walk out then I realized that it probably isn't the best representation of Christ so I sat on the couch praying that the Lord would soften my heart to know what they needed to hear, and in all honesty who knows what I said, but we ended with a prayer and got out of their as fast as we could. I honestly felt like crying walking out of that house because you could feel that Satan had wormed his way into their minds and hearts and had planted all this negative information that they were relishing in. Made me sick to see someone who knows the truth suddenly testify against it. Anyway's, it was a sad way to end an evening. It was around 9:00 p.m. so we went home and I needed to do anything to feel the spirit again after witnessing how vacant the spirit was in their home. In hind sight we shouldn't have let them continue on that long, but now we know for next time. That was such a sad experience!

Wednesday, we had an entire day of appointments booked from 10:00 a.m. right through until 7:00 p.m. but by 10:30 a.m. our first three appointments cancelled on us and so our next appointment wasn't until 2:30 p.m. which made for a long morning. So we studied, then we went member tracting again and we met this less active guy who was trimming his hedges so we offered to help him, but instead he sat down and told us about himself and his family and why he doesn't go to church anymore. Then he invited us to be his escorts to a wedding, and he said if we spoke in church he would definitely be there. Old men are funny. Then we met this lady who is less active but she pretended like she wasn't, then we met another lady who literally was in the middle of a crisis so we did her dishes and tried to help as best we could. Eventually, lunch time arrived and we had our other appointments stick the rest of the evening. Overall, Wednesday was a good day. It's interesting getting to know the members in the area. When we have 6 Wards you barely know a handful of people so in getting out and meeting the members we actually help them to get to know us more and then we build trust and we also get to see what everyone is dealing with in their lives at the present moment. We generally have some good lessons after we get to know everyone. Like I said earlier a lot happened this week but not a lot in finding new investigators.

Thursday was weekly planning and it was awesome. Over and done with in less then 2 hours. Record timing if you ask me. Then we walked to our appointment and it was with Viet who we tracted into on Sister Bishaws first day. He was studying to be a catholic priest but he stopped 3 years shy of becoming one. He had a lot of questions, a lot, a lot of questions and we barely scratched the surface but it was cool because before we left he asked how come we were so sure the LDS church was right and we got to bear our testimonies and witness how through the Holy Ghost we know the truth of all things, and then he said, "I've never felt that about the catholic church", and he said, "I know if I find anything better then the catholic church I will definitely join that church", so we are actually really excited to see what happens with him, but the cooler thing is that we found him tracting. We don't do a lot of tracting so it's cool to know we can meet interesting people when we are out tracting - DUH! Hahaha! Anyway's, then we had a lesson with Anthony and we talked about prophets because he was struggling with that a little bit, but he is awesome. To see the sincere desire he has to really know if its true or not was awesome. Then that night we had a lesson with Ashlee who is supposed to be getting baptized on June 30th. We taught her the rest of the commandments and then we planned her baptism. We just found out we couldn't get the font for the time she wanted so we are still trying to organize what would work best for her. We will see what happens.

Friday was district meeting, then we saw Craige. Please keep craige in your prayers as he is getting a lot of slack from his parents about being LDS and Satan is clearly working real hard on him. I know he will be okay but we had a long lesson with him just listening to the trials he is facing. You know its true when Satan works that hard on someone. Anyway's, then we went to see a lady who unfortunately, wasn't home and so we decided to go tracting again because we had about 30 minutes before dinner. Funny story. The 1st door we knock on there is no answer, the 2nd door we knock on, an inactive LDS guy who wants nothing to do with the church answers, the 3rd door we knock on is an atheist who also wants nothing to do with religion but had a good chat with us, and so by this time I'm thinking, "I'm done, this is getting us no where!" But, there is one more door in this apartment block and so we go to knock on the 4th door only to find a member who needs help getting permanent marker off her kitchen floor/ cupboards/ fridge because her son has just taken a permanent marker to the kitchen and she was super flustered. It was commical to me that almost every stereotype that you find tracting was all within 4 doors - the one that doesn't answer the door, the less active, the atheist and the active member. A unique experience! We went to dinner and then we went to contact a referral only to learn she is out of town for 2 weeks so we called it a night and headed home.

Saturday, we went to a baptism of the Gambino family. I have met them a couple of times but a senior couple was actually teaching them and they invited us to the baptism which was awesome. Then we had a brunch after and then we went and helped the one family that was moving to pack and my goodness their house was HUGE and they had a lot of work to do and it was only the mum and the daughter doing everything. Then we went to a Ward activity and after that we taught a lesson to a less active and then called it a night. We did alot of work with members this week.

Yesterday, was a good day. We text Taryn's Mum to see if she was going to come to church and she said she had woken up with a sore foot and she was in so much pain and she said she couldn't walk but if by 9:00 a.m. she was feeling better she may bring the kids to church. My companion and I immediately knelt down and prayed because we knew that the Lord could work miracles and get her foot feeling better and low and behold at 8:45 a.m. we get a text saying they are coming to church. Prayers really are answered. That was a cool experience. Then we went to a YSA correlation meeting, then to the YSA Ward and while we were their we were invited to dinner at this Tongan girls place because one of the recent converts was going to be their. So, we went to dinner after church and it was cool. Her brother is serving in NZ right now so it was cool to hear all the places he has served and stuff. I don't think he has been in our Ward, but who knows. Anyway's, then we attended a fireside for the YSA Ward too. Sister Christensen was telling us about this guy from the NY area who was the Director for Public and International Relations for the church in NY only to find out it was one of the Elders father. We went and it was the coolest fireside. He talked about pretty much doing missionary work but not at the same time and how different missionary work and public relations really are. He shared about all these diplomats and the connections they have been able to form and it was just cool. We got to meet him afterwards. Then it was home time.

Overall, we have done a lot of work with members this past week. This next week we have more finding to do and we probably won't be doing as much with the members but its nice to mix it up sometimes. So interesting thing I realized this week, I was studying about Moses because I've decided to start studying the Old Testament and naturally you start in Moses according to the study schedule and it gives that scripture about how Moses realizes without God man is nothing and it made me realize besides the fact that its true, it made me realize that its very obvious in less active and non-member people. They seem to have less substance and less direction when they aren't doing the things the Lord would have them do their lives become nothing without the power of God to help them. It made me realize that many of them are less likely to be motivated to achieve something or do something with their lives because they see no point, so I had an epiphany while studying about Moses and realized we need God not only to grant us and bless us with talents and abilities to do things but also to enrich and make our lives worth living. It made me realize that if we think we have a crappy life its probably because we're neglecting some part of the Saviours teachings. Anyway's, food for thought! I cannott believe this time next week we will be in July. Pretty much the year is almost over. Anyway's, I love you family! Keep enjoying the temple for me and Hinalei and Baby Joe of course. Take care, Sister Chadderton. P.s. Sorry no cool pictures this week.

19 June 2012

Hello Family,

I hope you are all alive and well. Thank you for your emails and pictures. I am excited that Cola is home safe and sound and you are all enjoying good food. I am indeed alive and well. The rest of the week has been good. From Thursday onwards, I guess I don't have a lot to update you about, but things have been really good.

Thursday after I emailed, we went and had lunch, then we did weekly planning, then that night we went and saw one of our less active members who was in the hospital, then we stopped by and saw Levi, a kid who we have been teaching who has ADHD. It was a very interesting discussion and trying to get him to focus on the lesson was a challenge. It taught me a lot about patience and the need to try new ways of teaching the gospel to children with ADHD. Then we went and had a BBQ with Bree and the King-horn Family and their neighbours. It was an awesome visit and Bree definitely does want to be baptized, but she is out of town for the next few weeks so we will get back in contact with her upon her return.

Friday was District meeting and my whole District has changed. Its kind of weird, but a good weird. Anyway's then we saw Craige for the first time since his baptism and it would appear as if Satan has been working on him, but he is doing fine. We talked a little about the priesthood and patriarchal blessings. We then visited Lois who is an elderly lady that we do puzzles with. She is kinda less active so its cool doing puzzles with her and after we do puzzles we teach her a lesson. Following the lesson we went and made dinner for the Webb Family because it was Brother Peter Webbs birthday and because Barb is still confined to the couch following surgery, we were happy to help cook and it felt so good to be cooking again! Pretty sure I'm going to start volunteering to make people dinner just so I can cook again in a full kitchen. I miss it!

Saturday was a good day. We saw a lot of less active people and we walked a heck of a lot more today then we have in the past. Only thing is, seriously there is hardly anybody on the streets on a Saturday. One would almost think that we live in a ghost town with the lack of people out walking, but everyone is just so busy that they take cars everywhere. We did have a cool experience where we were dropping off progress records to one of our Ward Mission Leaders and we ended up talking to his wife for a bit. Then as we were walking out I saw this girl walking on the street who is in the YSA Ward. Well, we stopped her and talked to her for a while and it was just interesting to see how the Lord puts you right where he needs you. We needed to be talking to this particular person for many reasons. Following our conversation, I was like, "We need to say a prayer!" She looks at me like I'm crazy, because we're on the side walk, and I was like, "Well I will say it but we need to pray". I kept thinking about how much I guess I've changed since being on my mission like saying a prayer on the sidewalk doesn't scare me and talking to people about the gospel doesn't scare me. It is so cool because everything we do as missionaries can be traced back to the Saviour and his gospel. That night we visited some other less active people and then headed home.

Sunday was Father's Day. Who knew? So, "Happy American Father's Day Dad!" Funny story because on Mother's Day all the talks were about mothers and how amazing and awesome they are and yesterday the talks were on things like missionary work or random topics that weren't really related to fathers. It was almost non-existent which was kinda sad. But at the same time people didn't seem to matter. We went to several different Wards and one of our investigators by the name of Taryn actually came to church for the entire three hour block and it was awesome. More importantly, her mum and brother came too. That was so cool to see. That night we had Father's Day dinner with one of our Ward Mission Leaders family where we helped make the dessert and it was a lot of fun. We made a dessert similar to caramel slice but we had put in a layer of a kinda pudding/frosting in the middle instead of caramel. It was pretty good. After dinner we visited a few more people then called it a night.

Overall, the week has been good. My companion Sister Bishaw is awesome. There is a lot that we need to do for this area so we will see what this week brings but it has been a good start to the transfer. Funny thing, whenever I introduce members to my new companion they always give me a hard time, because in 3 months I am onto my 5th companion. The jokes keep flowing like, "Oh you must be the trouble sister in the mission that's why you have so many companions" or "You must be hard to get along with that's why you have so many companions!" I laugh, then agree and then laugh and joke about it, then they get serious and then they comment and say, "But you're not hard to get along with and you're not any trouble! Meridian is treating me well and I love it here and I love the people.

Anyway's, today was P-Day and don't worry I won't be doing any back flips or front flips on the trampoline for the rest of my mission. I stayed completely grounded these past few days and I did get a chance to get my hair cut. The hairdresser took quite a bit off and when I get a chance, I will take some pictures so you can see how short it is now. Other then that, not a lot else has happened. Oh, I finally received my bank card from Hawaii, so that was excellent. Enjoy the next six weeks Cola because after that you will join the ranks! Love you all. Take care, Sister Chadderton xoxo