Family!!!
Can you believe it is P-Day again? This past week has honestly flown by and I cannot believe it. I have so much to tell you but firstly, can I just say that, "I was so excited to learn that you have had the missionaries in your home!" You have no idea how much of an asset you are to the Elders there by having them in your home. We love families who let us teach people in their homes as there is such a better spirit in members homes in comparison to having them at the home of the investigator or even the chapel. Thank you for helping out the missionary work on that side of the world. It makes me so happy to hear that you have the opportunity to participate in the lessons because they are exactly what we are teaching. The plan of salvation is by far my favorite lesson to teach and sometimes I get so carried away talking about the atonement because I have truly come to appreciate the Saviour and his sacrifice. And the best part is that once the missionaries leave, the friendship with the members will always be there so honestly Danii, your the bomb. Be her friend because that's the scariest thing when people join the church is acceptance and responsibility. Anyway, "High Five family!" I'm so righteously proud of you for working with the missionaries.
So, this week has been CRAZY and busy all at once. Monday night after emailing you we went to dinner and then we went to contact this referral. His name is Kasey and he is 16 years of age and came to church the Sunday before and was in a white shirt and tie. The Ward Mission Leader called us and told us about him. On Monday night we dropped by to visit him and he was in the middle of making dinner for his mum, so we stood in the kitchen and watched him make dinner and we were talking to him and he said, "Yeah, I have been telling all my friends that I am on my way to becoming LDS and some judge me but most are excited for me!". And I was like, "Wow thats incredible!" We asked him if he had ever met with the missionaries before and he said he hadn't so, we set up a return appointment for Friday because the rest of the week we weren't going to be in Shoshone. We left his house, and honestly we were jumping for joy. He was so prepared to hear the gospel. Our mission president set a goal for us to all have a, "White Christmas" meaning we have a baptism on December 24th as our christmas present - seeing someone in white. SO, when we walked out of Kasey's home we kept thinking, "We've just found our White Christmas." Well, the story gets better. Jump ahead to Thursday at weekly planning and we decided we needed to pray and ask the Lord when Kasey should be baptised. We were praying and we both had in mind December 24th but as my companion was praying she said December 17th and the spirit just filled me and I kept thinking, "That's just a week away?" When the prayer finished I said to my companion, "This might sound crazy but how about December 17th?" She said that is how she was feeling too so we prayed again and the same thing happened. We just got a strong confirmation that he needed to be baptised December 17th. We were like, "WOW" really...... So, Friday comes, we go to the appointment and we teach the first lesson about the Restoration but baptism doesn't come up at all. Before we walked into the lesson we said we know it sounds impossible but with God nothing is impossible. So baptism doesn't come up at all during the lesson. We say goodbye set a return appointment for Sunday and walk out the door. We look at each other and we're like, "What happened?" "Why didn't baptism come up?" Well, the good part of the story is that, that night (Friday night) the Ward was having a Christmas party that we had invited him to. So, after the Christmas party my companion and I were talking to Kasey and we felt inspired to commit him to baptism on December 17th. Or, he committed himself to baptism on December 17th. He said he felt right about it and everything. Honestly it was a huge miracle. I feel so overwhelmed with humility and gratitude to see all of these miracles happening at this time. So, Sunday we taught him the 2nd and 3rd lesson in one and tonight we teach him the 4th lesson in preparation for baptism. It seems so quick and so fast but this kid has wanted to be a member for a while but hasn't had the chance. Now, his chance is finally here and I am so, so, grateful for the opportunity to teach him. So, it's not really a, "White Christmas," BUT, definately a miracle Christmas.
The rest of the week was good. But that was definately a HUGE highlight. Tuesday, we went and taught Lily and she is progressing slowly. She still needs a job but I can't decide if she wants to help improve her situation or not. Then we went to this area called Jerome which is outside our area but we were called by a lady who said she had a friend who needed sister missionaries not Elders to teach her. We asked the ZLs and they gave us permission to leave our area so we went to teach her. Her name is Janice and she has had some hard things happen to her recently and so we started with the plan of salvation and we were talking about the atonement and the most incredible thing happened. I was testifying about the atonement and I just got the strongest impression that my whole life has been lead in such a way so that I could be in that room at that time to testify about the cleansing power of the atonement and I just kept thinking WOW the Lord really does love me. I can't describe exactly how it made me feel but honestly it was an assurance that God loves me, that he needs me here in Idaho to do his work and that regardless of how weak I think I am it is me he needs. It was a real boost that I needed. Then the Elders in that area asked us to come to an appointment with them to visit a lady who they felt wasn't really going anywhere and they thought the sister missionaries might give her the boost she needed, but alas, she is what we call, "An eternal investigator!" She has already been baptised 3 times in other churches so she was not willing to commit to baptism but by the end of the lesson she was in tears thanking us sisters for being their and teaching her. That was quite a humbling experience for me. That night when we finished, we did some service at this care center and helped decorate a Christmas tree, then we went to a Relief Society Christmas party because we had some investigators attending it, but when we walked in all the ladies were like, "Oh, what are the missionaries doing here?" We felt very unwelcome so I kept thinking, "If this is how you treat the missionaries how are you treating our investigators?" But needless to say the night went on and by the end, we stayed to help clean up and they were very appreciative of the missionaries. It was just interesting.
Then, on Wednesday we had district meeting and following that we headed out to Carey where we met with Sister Wilson. Wow ,that was an interesting conversation. She kept talking about how she was new to the area and didn't want to go to church and didn't like or feel welcomed in the town and I just kept thinking about our family and how many times we have moved (don't worry I always blame it on Dad -LOL) and I said the one constant we had every time we moved was the gospel, was the wards and the people in the wards who were able to help us out and that seemed to resound with her, but it was an interesting experience. She is suffering from deep depression and that's a place where I feel, only the Lord can help you out, so it was a very interesting lesson. Then we met with Brenda and Ed and had dinner with them and their family. It was cool because Ed sat in on the lesson and he got involved, but he didn't come to church this week so we will see what happens.
Thursday, was weekly planning, and I remember mentioning a few weeks back that my stomach has been giving me troubles. Well, Thursday during weekly planning my companion said it was about time I called the mission nurse and told her about my stomach. I was in some strange pain that day. So I did and she said to call this doctor and set up an appointment. So I did and I was waiting for the doctor to call me back. Anyways then I get a call from the Nurse saying she called a different doctor and I had an appointment in Twin Falls at 4.15pm that day. We were sitting in Carey and it takes an hour to get from Carey to Shoshone, and then another hour from Shoshone to Twin Falls and it was 2.05pm. Well, another delimma was we were planning on doing work in Richfield that night and we had appointments and people to see but everything worked out and we got to Shoshone, and Sister Roberts drove us into Twin Falls to my appointment. Don't worry, the doctor thinks I either have an ulcer in my stomach or a parasite, or that I'm just overly stressed. He gave me some medicine and I have to take one for 2 weeks and then start the other one, and I asked him if I should stay away from any foods and he didn't say anything, so I', just going to eat normal and see what these pills do. Honestly, I am fine! I just feel like I always have an upset stomach but the work goes on. These pills will either work or they won't but I know I will be fine so don't worry. So, that was Thursday and that night we stayed in Shoshone and visited with some of the less active members in the area which was good.
Friday, the highlight of the day was teaching Kasey again and that night we were asked to help cook the food for the Christmas party and it was great, because we had so many non-members and less actives attend. I enjoyed it so much.
Saturday saw us driving to Dietrich in the morning and meeting with Walter. We found out that the host family who he stays with signed a waiver saying he was not going to change religions while in America (he's from Brazil) and so while he can't be baptized, we can still teach him the lessons. Hopefully, when he returns to Brazil he will get baptized. We then taught a few less actives in the area and then the Stake president wanted to have us over for dinner so we were up in an area called Hailey for dinner. Hailey is a small ski town and it's in our stake boundary. Stake President had invited Sister Schoepf and I over for dinner along with the Elders in that area. After dinner, we drove back to Shoshone and that night we visited with a few more less actives.
Sunday was great and now it's Monday. It has been a long week but it has gone by real quick and honestly I have really enjoyed it. Don't worry, no pity parties this week. I feel so undeserving of all the blessings we are constantly being blessed with but if the Lord needs these people in his church he will prepare them. It is incredible. Also, I think I will be calling on my Christmas day which will be your Boxing day. We have interviews with the Mission President tomorrow so I will ask him then what the protocol is? Also, I never got to see pictures of the finished bathroom? You're keeping me in suspense here? Well, I love you all very much. Thank you for all the support you give me. Please pass my love onto Uncle Rana. Take care family.
- Sister Chadderton.
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