Sister Jenna Chadderton: 12 June 2012

Family!

Oh hallelujah its Monday again! Thank you for all your emails. You all sound well and alive and happy and but may be a little cold.

Anyway's, this week has been hectic, crazy and good all at the same time. Last P-Day we went to this place called, "Jump Time" and it was really cool. They have a tonne of trampolines and you get to do all kinds of jumps and flips. Well, everyone else was doing flips but I was too scared to have a go and by the end of the activity one of the elders had enough patience to teach me so I finally learnt how to do a front flip. Surprisingly, It was fun. After that my companion and I went and did some shopping and I know I definitely brought way too much stuff - a couple of dresses and tops that I just couldn't say no to. That night our investigator Anthony interviewed with President Cannon again and he is doing good. The same night a huge storm hit and their was lightning and thunder and really strong winds so we decided to stay close to home. During the day we received a call from a lady saying her friend had just committed to being baptized and she just needed us to teach her the lessons. (Bytheway, this never happens!) So we called her friend and set up an appointment for the next day. Her baptism is planned for June 30th. It was a great P-Day!

On Tuesday afternoon we went and had lunch and then we had an appointment with Bree. After teaching Bree we were off to teach Ashley - the girl with the baptismal date. It was a cool lesson and I felt very comfortable and Ashley is so cool. Then we had to head to the mission office to drop off some stuff, then we had dinner with a member family and then we went and saw Kristin that night and she is in packing mode because she is moving. It is a little sad but she told us about everything that was happening in her life. She is doing good and she said we can come over on Saturday and help her pack up her beds and she said to invite the Elders in the Eagle area to come over too because she wanted to feed us all dinner before she left so we set that up for Saturday. Then we headed home for the night.

The next day was our last district meeting before transfers and we had it at the Senior couples home. They made a BBQ for us and they even had shrimp. It was so awesome. It was sad in a way because some of the people in our district will leave after transfers so having this BBQ was kinda like the last time we will see most of them. Then we had a few lessons, and later had dinner and then we went to see Matthew!!!!! I was so excited that they were temporarily back in town for a bit so I could see them again. It was so good catching up with them. They are doing so good. We finished the night with them.

Thursday was another good day. We had weekly planning and I managed to survive the whole thing without complaining once which is a miracle because I am not a big fan of weekly planning. Then we went and visited a few people and then we went to the Chipman's home for dinner. Sister Chipman's maiden name is actually Sister Te'o whos parents were Mission Presidents in Samoa while we were there. We walked into the Chipman's home and Sister Chipman's parents were there and her mum - Sister Te'o - was like, "Oh you look so much like your mum!" And then Brother, or President Te'o recognized me he gave me a huge hug. It was fun. It was also heaps fun to eat banana and rice and pisupo and stuff again. They even made panipopo and it was awesome! Theres a tradition in the mission field that after 2 years you burn a suit and so a couple of Elders had hit that point and were on their way home so we stopped in to watch the, "Suit burning ceremony!" I won't ever be burning a suit. It was interesting.

Friday was a long day. Firstly, we had a lesson with Ashley in the morning which was great but the whole day we were anticipating transfer calls. Several people kept saying I would be leaving Meridian and training in a new area and I didn't feel anything either way so needless to say I wanted the day to go quickly so we could get the call but it dragged on! After teaching Ashley we had lunch, then we saw Carol who is probably one of my most favorite people in this area. She is crazy, but awesome at the same time. Reminds me alot of Becky Farley from Emmett. Then we taught Anthony and he seemed so burdened down by his thoughts it was sad. I wanted to like lift this burden from his shoulders but nothing we said would be of any comfort. I know he will find the comfort and solace he is seeking soon enough but he just didn't seem happy. He had way too much on his mind. Then we had dinner with a member family, and then we went and met this Korean family so Sister Lee could talk with them. It was cool listening to Sister Lee speak Korean. Then the call finally came! I am staying in Meridian and training a new missionary. Sister Howard is going to Boise, and Sister Lee will be getting a new trainer. So I was fine with that because I can handle staying and I know training will help keep me in line. I find out on Wednesday who my new companion is and stuff and I will email you again on Wednesday when I take her to do her emails. Friday night finally ended. It seemed like a very, very, long day!

Saturday was good. We went to a few baptisms because people who live in our area were being taught by other missionaries and we were asked to be there to support them. Then we went to Eagle to help Kristin pack and it was so sad saying goodbye to her. She will leave, the Elders are getting split up, Sister Howard will be leaving so their were a lot of pictures taken and a lot of goodbyes said. I am just grateful I got to see Kristin enter the waters of baptism. That night we went to another baptism and we took some elders with us. Then we went home so Sister Howard and Sister Lee could pack! It was a really long Saturday too. That night, I got a call from the AP's asking if I would be willing to be a companion to a Senior sister on Monday because the AP's needed her husband for something. This would mean I wouldn't get a P-Day. I told them I would be fine but I was so sad i wouldn't be getting a P-Day. That night I really didn't sleep well because I was stressing too much about all the changes happening.

Sunday was good and we went to church, then more packing, then we went to the Webb's home for dinner and to say goodbye, then we had a correlation meeting with the Locust Grove Ward members and I was feeling so sick, stressed, and a little overwhelmed by all the changes that were happening so I asked the WML to give me a blessing. We finally went home and learnt that I don't have to give up my P-Day and that I wasn't needed as a companion anymore. There seemed to be a lot of confusion about transfers and who needed to be where. So, we called the elders and asked if they wanted to drive Sister Lee and I around for some of the day because neither of us could drive and Sister Howard had to be at the mission office at 6:30 a.m. So, needless to say it's been crazy. I didn't sleep well last night either. I really need to start running. I am sure that too much energy plus too much on my mind makes for absolutely no sleep. I realized the more stressed I am the more my stomach plays up. So note to self - deal better with stress! Just relax!

Well, I did have a cool experience last night where I was trying to fall asleep but I couldn't so I decided I would open my Book of Mormon and read, just to see if that would tire me out. While I was reading in the book of Jacob I got to the chapter on the Allegory of the Olive tree and I really didn't feel like facing the allegory so I put my Book of Mormon down and I decided to just pray. I wanted to just pour out everything that I was feeling and thinking so I literally had a very long conversation with my Father in Heaven. While I was praying I started to think that maybe I didn't trust in Him as much as I thought I did. I kept stressing about different things and how things would turn out and what I needed to do etc etc etc. Then, l I realized again that He already knows whats going to happen. He is aware of everything. Here I am trying to fit these puzzle pieces together when actually He already has the puzzle together I just need to learn to truly trust him. I then received this overwhelming sense of what I needed to do and the spirit said, "Yes Sister Chadderton its time to really start trusting me!" So, that was my cool and very interesting experience. Do I know what I need to change to have the greater trust? No. But it will come. Its just very interesting how the Lord works. But he does love me and he trusts me so we will see how this transfer goes. I'm nervous, but confident that everything will be fine. Oh and Sister Cline is training as well. That is awesome news.

Well, this morning we dropped Sister Howard off to the mission office, then we got dropped home and I cleaned our apartment. It was a little messy and got a bit out of hand in the past few weeks with 3 of us in a small space. Now we're emailing. I am excited for what lays ahead today. I hope you are all doing good. The church really is true. I enjoyed reading Rickys testimony. Christ really is the center. Hope you have a good week. Take care, love you all. Sister Chadderton xoxoxo

002- The group of missionaries that went to jumptime

003 - My district this transfer. We're kinda glowing

004 - I found a street called "Chatterton" which is kinda close to my name I guess?

005 - Another one of the district but not glowing this time

006 - Elder Bailey and Elder Gage. Served around Elder Bailey for 7 1/2 months now and Elder Gage 6 months.

007 -Matthew and Julia and Sister Moncur

008 - Me with the Sager kids! I love these kids. The little boy is my best friend because I always bring him candy!

009 - With the Te'o / Chipman Family. Do you recognize them?

010 - With Anthony and his girfriend Crystal.

011 - Hannah Dieffenbach(Kristin's Daughter)

013 - Us and Kristin

014 - Elder Matavao from Samoa and Elder Ika from California (but who's actually Tongan)