Meet Chichen

Meet Pagag Akish Shiz Chichen the chicken the second

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  A less active we have been working with a lot invited us over for dinner. It was a very lovely dinner. After words there was still a whole chicken left and her grandson who is 11 really wanted us to have it. So he got out a large bowl and through it in there and then on the lid wrote chichen

..So... I guess I'll give you a little update on this week.  On thursday we got a text that we are reading the book of Mormon as a mission starting Sept. 11 and both sister Weight and I were in the middle of Alma and didn't want to start over before we finished so we decided that we would use every minute of our spare time reading and try to finish it!  Surprisingly, we're cruising right along and should finish tomorrow night! 

Another fun fact, Sister Weight and I had the wonderful opportunity of singing in the ward choir at stake conference this week.  I don't know if I mentioned this before, but both Sister Weight and I can't sing and even more so when we stand next to each other, so we got a kick out of it. Good news is that I was able to checked that off of my life to-do list. 

Other than that, we've been working with a lot of less-actives and had 2 pretty cool expiriences!  One was with a less active named Dixie who hasn't been to church in over 15 years.  As we've been visiting her, we realized she has gotten out of all her habits of reading, praying, etc.  We decided we would teach her the lessons again for a refresher and try to rekindle the testimony she once had.  We finished teaching the restoration and asked her if she would offer the closing prayer and she didn't hestiate to reject the offer.  She explained that she hasn't prayed in years and there was no way she would do it.  We sat there in silence for a good minute, and finally we looked up to her and boldly said, "Dixie.  As representitives of Christ, we are not the ones asking you to pray.  It is your Heavenly father who wants to hear from you."  She started crying and choked her way through the prayer.  The spirit was so undenibly strong and after the prayer she looked up at us and just smiled.  It was such a simple, yet incredible expirience!  We also had an awesome lesson with a less active named Daniel that we have been trying to contact for a while now.  It was by no chance that he finally answered the door that night. He was kind of rough looking and a little intimidating and pretty standoff-ish, so we introduced ourselves and asked if we could just offer a prayer.  After the prayer was offered, we ended up teaching the basic principle of Gods love.  We ended talking on his doorstep for a good hour and afterwords he invited us to come teach his 13 year old daughter who is not a member. 

I've really been able to see the power of prayer work through people in our work this week.  It's amazing to me how much a prayer really can soften a persons heart as they allow the spirit testify of the truthfulness of the words being said and of the love that God has for them.

I was able to once again read the climax of the book of mormon, when Christ comes to the Americas.  One of the first thing he does after appearing to the people is he ordains the twelve apostles to help him teach his gospel and set up his perfect church.  Afterwards, he goes on to heal the people and preforms many miracles.  In chapter 17, it says that after he heals a group of people.  It states,  "And it came to pass that he commanded that their little children should be brought."  He wanted them all the bring the little children to him and I love how in verses 20-22 it shows the love he has for those precious children.  He states how his joy is full... "and when he said these words, he wept..... he took their little children, one by one and blessed them and prayed unto the father for them. " 22,.... " And when he had done this, he wept again."  It's incredible to me the love that the savior has for his brothers and sisters.  I can just picture Christ sitting that as he takes each child, one by one, just crying because he is overwhelmed with love for each one of them.

Christ is such a perfect example of one who has love.  I hope that I can follow his example in striving to have the love and charity that he has for each one of us, for those around me and those I am serving.  I love my savior, and I am humbled by the opportunity I have to be out here, representing him.

6 Months out!!

So I'm sure you can probably guess how this e-mail is going to start off.  This week was great.  I feel like that's an overused statement but it's true and I can't really find any other way to start it off.  Well, I hit my 6 month mark this week which means I'm 1/3 of the way through my mission and I am honestly so sad about it!  Sister Weight suggested that we celebrate somehow but I'd almost rather have a good sobbing session because I cannot believe that time has flown by this fast! I am so grateful for the time I've spent here serving the Lord.

We stayed extremely busy this week contacting less-actives and part member families. 

We got some really cool battle wounds this week.  Long story short, we got dropped off to a appointment 5 miles away from our apartment who ended up cancelling, got caught in a rain storm and since our feet started getting all pruney, we decided to walk home barefoot. In result of that, we both have some pretty sweet blisters that are bigger than quarters.  Too bad I forgot to take pictures or I'd show you.  It was quite an expirience.  Also, we were on our way home on our bikes one night and found ourselves some 12 year old biker friends.  They ended up riding with us all the way home and showed us a shortcut to our house that cut off like 20 minutes of our usual ride!  We were happy.  Last fun fact for the day, we were teaching our investigator Anna the other day, talking about the Holy Ghost and she said that the Holy Ghost has helped her to become a really good dancer.  Apparently she feels it so strong she can't help but dance and feel the vibes of the Holy Ghost run through her body.  We left her with the commitment of praying to be able to recocgnize the holy ghost more in her life and in return, she left us with her preachers buisness card.  That was interesting.

I got to go on an exchange with my MTC companion, Sister Jones which was a blast!  It is  so cool to see the growth we've each had over the past 6 months.  Transfers is this week and for the first time yet, I am safe!  I will be staying another transfer here in Oak Ridge and I will finishing training Sister Weight.  This will be the first time I've kept a companion for more than a transfer. I am so grateful that the Lord has blessed me with 6 more weeks with her. Funny story (kind of).  We were laying in bed, ready to turn off the lights and she looked over me and started tearing up and when I asked her why,  she simply stated, "I just love you." I started laughing hard but realized that she might actually be serious.  She swears to this moment that she just felt an overwhelming love and appreciation to have me as a companion.  I couldn't agree more.   It was adorable. I love Sister Weight and am so thankful for the unity and companionship that we have.   

This week I gained a testimony of using time effectively.  We were on our way to an appointment and we were going to be 5 minutes early so I thought we'd go stop by a less active we had been meeting to get ahold of.  We were driving around and couldn't find the street he lived on and we came acrossed a house that seemed familiar to me because we had knocked on it multiple times before when previously trying to contact and I felt like we needed to try again and stop by.  It ended up being a less-active named Carolyn and when she came to the door, she seemed almost annoyed.  We explained who we were and told her we didn't have much time and asked if we could say a quick prayer with her and although she still acted a little aggravated,  she agreed to it. After the prayer, we looked up and she is in tears.  She started to tell us all about her situation and said how grateful she was that we stopped by and asked if we could come back.  It was just a reminder of how precious time truly is when you are on the Lords errand.  Miracles can happen even in five short minutes.

I studied Charity a lot this week and couldn't help but think of Mosiah 18: 21.  "And he commanded them that there should be no contention one with another, but they should look forward with one eye... having their hearts knit together in unity and in love one towards another."  We were able to teach a few members family home evening lessons this week and talked about the importance of having charity in a home and how it can unify a family. I truly believe that service is the motivator for charity.  When we serve, we gain a stronger love for one another.  It is so important that we are continually looking for ways to serve our families and those around us and as we do so, we will infact have greater charity for our brothers and sisters.  I invite you to follow the invite expressed in Moroni 7:48 (to pray to be filled with Charity) and to look for those small and simple opportunities to serve. The greatest joy comes from serving.