Happy December
Well, this week was another wonderful week in the blessed land of Lake Butler!
We had a lot of fun stuff happen!! Monday I went on a trade off with Sister GRUNDBERG, whom I love very much and I still don't quite understand why my iPad puts her name in all caps but that's okay! :)
So we went to this
family's house for dinner and they did magic tricks the whole night long. We
had a great lesson with them about "Preach my Gospel" and how it is scripture, because it is. So YA’LL should read it because it's the greatest tool we have for
any phase of our life.
Then! We had a wonderful lesson with this lady named Tammy! She was very
interesting! She yelled at us a lot! It was....different. Haha. But she did
say she would read the Book of Mormon and pray about it.. So SCORE!
Wednesday was pretty amazing. We had a missionary leadership training meeting that lasted from 9 in the morning to 5 in the afternoon. It was SOO long. But very very good. :) we talked a lot about how we can become more Christ like leaders. And what defines success as a missionary!! This was completely inspired. Lately, I have been feeling like quite the failure because I've had only 2 baptisms on my mission. Satan was not being very nice. But then our dear president Craig showed a video on how other missionaries around the world based their success off of. They held up signs that said "my mission was successful because..." And none of them had anything to do with how many baptisms you had. But they all had to do with how you've changed as an individual. President said that is what defines your success. Is how much you've changed for the better. Well, that left me a lot of time to really look inside myself to see how I've changed and what I have become these 14 months on my mission.
I was really overwhelmed to realize that I am not the person I was when I left home. At all. I've changed a lot. It's very humbling actually... To see how you've changed, because of Him. So that training was really good for me to hear. I am so grateful that I have the ability to change through His atonement. I don't have to be stuck with my weaknesses and mistakes. I can be free of all if that! Isn't that beautiful?? Anywho, MLC was great. :)
Thursday!! Turkey day! Thanksgiving!!! I hope all of your Thanksgivings were wonderful and delicious! We certainly have A LOT to be thankful for. My Thanksgiving was AWESOME. I had such a good day. We first ate at the Roberts family. (Which half of the ward is related to so is was basically a ward party) and that was a lot of fun. There was a polish man there!! He was great. I met “Kid History's” Richards brother. He is apparently in our Ward!! Crazy, eh? We then went over to the Wiggins home. Which is the other half of the ward. Haha. Brother Wiggins is probably to greatest old guy I've ever met in my life. He is dying and it's really sad but to hear him tell stories is amazing. He was a meteorologist and chased tornados and owned a farm and is a veteran and is basically everything that I've ever wanted to be in my life. We had a good chat! I love him so much!!! I love that family so much. Holy cow.. I knew them before this life I am sure of it. I feel such a connection with them. The actual dinners were fantastic. I'm pretty sure I have diabetes now. No biggie. It was hilarious. I was looking around at the beautiful spread of food and I see cheesy potatoes and mashed potatoes with huge pools of butter and every single form of Mac n cheese imaginable and pot pies and baked beans and buttery rolls and cakes and croissants and hams and turkeys and fried chicken and over on the back corner of the counter was a measly plate of salad. Hahaha. One small bowl of salad. I laughed really hard. I love the South. They have veggies.. But they are usually fried. Hahaha. I think my favorite dinner was at night with one of the recent converts. The group that showed up... Wow. It was the quirkiest Thanksgiving that has ever happened. It was awesome. OH. And I made my
first pumpkin pie. It was really gross. Remind me never to bake. Haha. But we had a blind man who thinks he is a prophet, a drunkard, a feisty old lady, a retired Pastor (Bro Randy who recently got baptized... Holy cow I love him so much) , and a doctor. That is.. If we were to put labels on all of them... In reality they are wonderful good good people who have hearts of gold. And then us missionaries thrown in the bunch. It was the greatest thanksgiving meal I've ever had! There is no place I would rather be. Pictures to come. :) I love them all so much. It was so nice of Lisa to invite them all over. None of them had places to eat and would've been alone. But we gathered them all up and had a wonderful meal. It was certainly a night to remember. God is good and I have so much to be thankful for. :)
Wednesday was pretty amazing. We had a missionary leadership training meeting that lasted from 9 in the morning to 5 in the afternoon. It was SOO long. But very very good. :) we talked a lot about how we can become more Christ like leaders. And what defines success as a missionary!! This was completely inspired. Lately, I have been feeling like quite the failure because I've had only 2 baptisms on my mission. Satan was not being very nice. But then our dear president Craig showed a video on how other missionaries around the world based their success off of. They held up signs that said "my mission was successful because..." And none of them had anything to do with how many baptisms you had. But they all had to do with how you've changed as an individual. President said that is what defines your success. Is how much you've changed for the better. Well, that left me a lot of time to really look inside myself to see how I've changed and what I have become these 14 months on my mission.
I was really overwhelmed to realize that I am not the person I was when I left home. At all. I've changed a lot. It's very humbling actually... To see how you've changed, because of Him. So that training was really good for me to hear. I am so grateful that I have the ability to change through His atonement. I don't have to be stuck with my weaknesses and mistakes. I can be free of all if that! Isn't that beautiful?? Anywho, MLC was great. :)
Thursday!! Turkey day! Thanksgiving!!! I hope all of your Thanksgivings were wonderful and delicious! We certainly have A LOT to be thankful for. My Thanksgiving was AWESOME. I had such a good day. We first ate at the Roberts family. (Which half of the ward is related to so is was basically a ward party) and that was a lot of fun. There was a polish man there!! He was great. I met “Kid History's” Richards brother. He is apparently in our Ward!! Crazy, eh? We then went over to the Wiggins home. Which is the other half of the ward. Haha. Brother Wiggins is probably to greatest old guy I've ever met in my life. He is dying and it's really sad but to hear him tell stories is amazing. He was a meteorologist and chased tornados and owned a farm and is a veteran and is basically everything that I've ever wanted to be in my life. We had a good chat! I love him so much!!! I love that family so much. Holy cow.. I knew them before this life I am sure of it. I feel such a connection with them. The actual dinners were fantastic. I'm pretty sure I have diabetes now. No biggie. It was hilarious. I was looking around at the beautiful spread of food and I see cheesy potatoes and mashed potatoes with huge pools of butter and every single form of Mac n cheese imaginable and pot pies and baked beans and buttery rolls and cakes and croissants and hams and turkeys and fried chicken and over on the back corner of the counter was a measly plate of salad. Hahaha. One small bowl of salad. I laughed really hard. I love the South. They have veggies.. But they are usually fried. Hahaha. I think my favorite dinner was at night with one of the recent converts. The group that showed up... Wow. It was the quirkiest Thanksgiving that has ever happened. It was awesome. OH. And I made my
first pumpkin pie. It was really gross. Remind me never to bake. Haha. But we had a blind man who thinks he is a prophet, a drunkard, a feisty old lady, a retired Pastor (Bro Randy who recently got baptized... Holy cow I love him so much) , and a doctor. That is.. If we were to put labels on all of them... In reality they are wonderful good good people who have hearts of gold. And then us missionaries thrown in the bunch. It was the greatest thanksgiving meal I've ever had! There is no place I would rather be. Pictures to come. :) I love them all so much. It was so nice of Lisa to invite them all over. None of them had places to eat and would've been alone. But we gathered them all up and had a wonderful meal. It was certainly a night to remember. God is good and I have so much to be thankful for. :)
Friday was a fantastic day!! We were on bikes because we ran out of miles. But it was great. Minus the whole it being super cold and my fingers and toes freezing off. Biking in Florida in the heat of the summer is one thing... But biking down the highway 5 miles to get to an appointment in bone chilling temperatures is another thing. Someone described this weather like this..
"Cold here is different from the cold we have back home. the cold back home is a kind of dry frosty cold that allows and even encourages folks to play in it. the cold here has water in it so when it touches you it melts your bones and coats your face with a tiny layer of ice. small enough to see through but thick enough to make a little shattering noise when you blink."
Yep. That basically sums it up. SO COLD. Whoever told me Florida isn't cold lied to me.
We visited a wonderful less active family and taught them a very powerful lesson on the sacrament!! It was wonderful. I got thinking to myself how much taking the sacrament truly means to me. I love this quote by Tad Callister....... (See attached photo)
Isn't that powerful?? It really hit me how much I truly depend on my Savior for everything. Every thought, action and feeling I have rests on the fact that He died for me and lives for me today. Anyway, food for thought. :)
We got to do A LOT of service this week which was the best!! We were helping these ladies move stuff from their storage unit and it was so interesting to watch how the spirit softened their hearts. By the end of the move they wanted our numbers and our Facebook names and wanted to come play volleyball with us! Whoa. I have such a testimony of service. I just want to serve others until I die. If I could do service my whole life.... My life would be so great. I LOVE SERVICE.
In closing, I love Lake Butler. The work here is slow. But Sister Donohue and I are plowing it. We are working in finding. Which proves to be harder than it looks. But I appreciate that the Lord has trusted me enough with this challenge to figure it out.
OH AND BROTHER MATT SAID I COULD MILK ONE OF HIS COWS WHICH WAS MY BEST MOMENT.
K... I love ya’ll. Please remember how great you are in the eyes of God and never forget how much he loves you. :)
Love,
Sister Chamberlain :)
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