Don't worry come to my side of the boat!

Haha oh what a title eh? This week was amazing. We saw many miracles happen. But their would need to be another book added to the scriptures if I wrote them all. :) I will just share a couple of stories. 

This last Tuesday we went on exchanges for the first time in my mission. It was amazing. The Sister Training leaders we have are amazing. I was able to spend my day with Sister Davidson! She has so many strengths, and she is an incredible missionary. Something that she really helped me understand was the importance of being an organized missionary. She is amazing. We went tracting in the pouring rain! We had drenched hair, and sopping shoes but yet we still went on with a smile. We love the work. 

I have been mentioning this all transfer. But my companion is truly a blessing. Sister Bodine is an incredible missionary. She is in her last week as a missionary. She has served the Lord faithfully and obediently for 18 months. I am so grateful I was able to partake of her sweet spirit and testimony. Keep her in your prayers and thoughts as she prepares to come home. 

Our stake had stake conference this week! I didn't remember to snag my notebook before emailing, so I won't be able to share very many thoughts. We heard from Elder Anderson,  Elder Hales, Brother Kacher, and a the second councilor in the relief society presidency. It was so amazing. One talk that I specifically liked was the one that talked about how throught the Atonement of Jesus Christ, all of our sins can be completely forgotten. As long as we have faith.

Stake Conference was a wonderful lead up to something the youth did in our ward! They set up a mini mission. There were three missionary companionships, Sister Bodine and I, the other sisters in our ward, and then our Zone Leaders. We all went on temporary splits with two or more of the youth in the ward. The leaders set up for us to meet with investigators, less active members, tracting, and even dinner appointments. It was a true blessing to be surrounded by the youth. They each have such sweet testimonies. They got to be missionaries for a day! I was able to be with two beehives. As we were driving back to the church from our dinner appointment, I asked them both what their favorite part was. One said "I got to share my testimony for the first time with people." She was one of our recent converts. Then the other said, "I really liked teaching about Joseph Smith, when I taught his vision (Joseph Smith History 1:16-17) I felt the spirit." She has been a member her whole life. I love that no matter how long we have been a member that the message of the Restoration will always teach us and fill us with the spirit. I invite you all to prayerfully consider someone to share the gospel with.

We were playing Jeopardy with the youth and we got to the question that was asking what the Savior said when they were on the boat and their were mighty storms. After some pretty good guesses and some laughing from the leaders all of the teams besides one had guessed. The very last group also didn't know the answer. the team captain said, "I don't know so I will just give it a guess...Come to my side of the boat?" hahah Sister Bodine and I have been referring back to this statement all week. But it is true. We can be in the darkest times of our lives. And we may not know what it is that we should do. Or where it is we should turn. But just as this young mia maid said, the Savior would want us to come to him. To live our lives centered on him. I am so grateful for this girl, and the faith that she simply expressed as she mentioned this comment. I know that as we Come unto Christ that we will find peace and happiness in our lives. 

I love you all! 

Sister Chelson 

April 30, 2015

          Hello, Hello! This week has been one awesome week!!! I love being a missionary. I think I have said that before but I thought I would say it again! So I will just try and sum up everything that happened!

          My companion in is her last transfer. This means that everyone has invited us over for dinner! And some days we even have lunch and dinner. Ha this is so awesome. The ward we are in is incredible. And the food that they make for us is even more incredible! This means that we have to really watch out on what we are eating. I have found out, however, that ice cream is something that goes good with every meal. It fills in the cracks eh? Haha you all know that I LOVE lambs! This week I had lamb stew. I felt like crying. Also I have really started to like fish! It is really good. That is something that is really cool about this mission, it is the most diverse place in the world. I have met so many people from so many cultures. I get a little piece of everything. 

          This week has been amazing. My companion and I (Sister Bodine) were whitewashed into this area this transfer. We started out by having no real investigators, nobody we knew to try and find member referrals, and we did not know the area. But now we are seeing so much progress and success! Tomorrow we are loaded with lessons to teach, members food to eat, and lots of talking. We are so grateful for the blessing to be a missionary. :) We pray every day, every hour in hope to find the people that are prepared to share the gospel. We were teaching this family this week. They are young and have two crazy young boys. We were teaching the Restoration, and we started to talk about prayer and about the Holy Ghost. The mom asked us if we believe  that other people can be an answer to prayers. We continued on telling her that people can and told her that the Holy Ghost testifies of truth and it will only ever be of good things. We told her how proud we were of her and the good job that she was doing raising her family. She  started crying and told us that we had answered her prayer. Just the day before she had prayed to feel comfort in her life and to feel appreciated and worth something. She hugged us and gladly invited us to come back and teach again. I am so grateful for this experience. Just the day before I had prayed that I would be able to have a confirmation on something that I had been studying. This was also an answer to my prayer. 

          My companion has such a cool family. I am always telling her how cool her parents seem and how awesome her family is. The reason  I mention this is because I know that the reason Sister Bodine is such an amazing missionary is because of her family. She is such a great missionary. In the Book of Mormon it talks about the prophets who are filled with the spirit and how they have so much power and authority as they teach. And this is exactly what Sister Bodine is like. She lives her life in such a way that she always has this power and spirit. She has been such a great blessing for me. I am grateful to have served with her. Especially as she comes to her missions close. It means the world to me to have such an extraordinary companion. 

          Today I went to Niagara Falls!!! It was so amazing. We actually ran into a Filipino Family that were members! They took pictures with us and were so excited to see members!I It around 20 degrees (Celsius) the entire week. Today however was rainy and cold which is funny because we were going to the Falls. The member that was taking us thought it was going to rain the entire time but we assured her that if we had faith that it would stop raining and blowing that he would bless his missionaries. Ha IT STOPPED. I know that that seems silly but I know that it is true. Heavenly Father may not have stopped the wind and rain... But I do know that if we have faith he will allow miracles to happen. Mormon 9

          I love you all! I am so excited to hear about school getting over, UVYA starting, mom riding a bike, and so many other fun things! I love being a missionary!! 

Sister Chelson

April 13, 2015

It has been another fabulous week in Milton! 

I pray for you all every day. I hope you all know that I love you! 

Food! So the food here is really good, or at least the members are really good cooks! Aunt Becky, will you read and learn how to make Poutine? It is a big Canadian food. I want everyone to try it out! haha

The Book of Mormon is wonderful. I love studying from it every day. I am learning so much. I know that if we have any challenges of concerns that we will find strength in the Book of Mormon. I loved reading about Alma the younger. I think that no matter how righteous we are that we all have room for improvement. I know that I have alot to work on. I also love how even thought he made mistakes that he was saved because of the love and mercy of Jesus Christ. I love that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is centered around families. I talk to probably 25 people a day about my family. I tell them how this Gospel brings us all so much happiness. 

Lots of love,

Sister Chelson

March 30, 2015

Hello! So I have never been so cold in my life!! haha this week I didn't have a pillow or blanket! But I have surprisingly been pretty warm! Sister Clayton drove yesterday to bring it to me, she is such an amazing woman. It is so cold here that it chills you to the bone. I have never had cold or wind hurt so bad. :) I LOVE IT.

Emily with President and Sister Clayton

The flight was good! I did alot of reading haha I re started the Book of Mormon. I got to Mosiah 2 before I got to Toronto. So it can be done. The Book of Mormon can be read pretty quickly.  

My trainer. When you are called to certain callings in the mission such as a zone leader, or a AP. You are typically that calling until you leave. In fact it is so unlikely to not. It is the same with Sister Training Leaders. My trainer was released for her final transfer to train me. President Clayton, Sister Clayton, all of the mission office, EVERY single missionary here said that I got a very special missionary. I know that that is true. I prayed for a comp that would be obedient and work hard. And that is what she is. She told me that once she got called to train she knew she would be training someone special and that she would have a lot of responsibility to do a good job. She has helped me so much. I want you to know that we are constantly working and that is not just because of her. But also because I want too. We run everywhere. We pray all the time. We sing to people. We are doing everything that we can so we can serve our God with all of our heart might and mind. I  will have two trainers. I love it here.

I got to go to the temple! We go with our investigators to the temple to do baptisms as quick as possible. "we begin with the end in mind" think about that and live your life for that. We begin our marriage with eternal life in mind. We begin our mission with helping others receive eternal life in mind. We don't just go through life without purpose. We begin with the end in mind. This applies to EVERYTHING sports, band, school, family, jobs, you name it and it will apply. This is how we are successful. 

Something that we want to do is to involve members. that is the only way that the work will press forward! We pray for chances for the war members to have missionary experiences. This is a very special story. The Sim family is a young french family. They have three kids. They are going to be baptizing the first in december. We were going to there house for dinner and we had been praying all day for help. This man approached us and said that he was an inactive member and  that we could come visit him. Then as we were on the front porch this boy we had waved to came up and talked to us! haha it was amazing. the Sims said that we bring such a powerful spirit to their home. Sister Sim told us that her husband was playing with his son the night before and this man came to them and said "are you a mormon?" he said yes and the guy said, "I want to know what makes you so different." the man continued to say that two sisters came to the door and were talking about mormons and how we share a wonderful message about families. He saw us previously go to the sims home. The sims are know going to be having this man and his family over to be taught. The Lord answers our prayers in such strange ways. Just like the Women's broadcast. "He will answer in his own time, and way."

Canada only has Cadbury chocolate. :) This is a good thing. Everyone speaks like five languages in the ward. It is seriously so diverse here. We have a car. Sister Bodine is from Utah, she is going to BYU, she lived in New Heritage the same year as Nate... She is coming home soon! OH yeah!!!! hahaha I am trying so hard to say Eh! It is actually done here, like alot. I also have started saying washroom for bathroom and also whereabouts when I am asking people where they are from. :) 

Sister Chelson!