Week 13... JAX Beaches

Hi everyone!

I wish words could describe how crazy this week has been. Crazy, as in "Sister Chamberlain took a ride on the hormonal emotional roller coaster", crazy. Buuuut before we get into all that emotional mumbo jumbo... (I know you love hearing about my crazy sister missionary hormones) ...

Let’s talk about the weather.

It's 33 degrees.

PORQUE FLORIDA.. POOOORRQUUUUEEE?!?!?!

It's actually really funny to see the people here in their huge puffy coats and boots. Yesterday I saw people covering their trees in sheets and basically everyone is hibernating. It's hilarious. Nobody is out.

But I'm from UTAH! BOOYAH!

Needless to say... The Lord knew where he was sending me, to a place where it’s warm and sunny 80% of the time. I love warm. :)

Also, I am staying in JAX Beaches for another transfer! I am beyond happy about this. I could probably stay here my whole mission and be peachy keen with it. The ward here is beyond amazing. SO YEAH!

Debbie was confirmed this Sunday, which is a miracle considering she had gallstones!!! That woman never fails to impress me. She is one of the strongest people I know. I've heard that gallstones are worse than childbirth?? *shudder*… I am so extremely happy for her though. :) We just got to get her through this. “old hairy legs” (satan) always has to throw something in there. I swear... I want to drop an anvil on his head sometimes. And when I say sometimes... I mean all the times.

I digress.

Sooo... Update on the headache drama!!!! (This is where you get on the roller coaster... Keep your arms and legs inside the car, hold on tight and enjoy the ride!!)

My headaches were really slowing down the work. I was in about 30% throughout the past few weeks... So I was feeling like a lousy, worthless missionary. Towards the end of the week (Friday) I was really... really... Depressed. Now this wasn't like... I feel down and a bit blue... It was like... I sat on a chair, stared off into space, plucking nonsense on my ukulele, wallowing in self-pity for 6 hours. I wasn't motivated to do anything except breathe! I did nothing. It was so bad! My poor companion was feeling the same way. It's so dumb how satan can just... DO THAT.

So the next morning I was feeling the same way and that depressed me even more so we decided to call President C! (dun dun dunnn)  We called him and I fell apart and cried and blubbered and did all that lovely stuff and explained to him what has going on. Well, he basically rebuked us for a while... very lovingly might I add. But he said I needed to fast and pray about going home. When he said that... I panicked... Sis J shot out of her chair and started to get things organized to work. I guess that’s one way to get yourself out of the blues!!!! Haha! My first initial thought was "THERE IS NO WAY IM GOING HOME. SISTER J WILL HAVE TO DRAG MY DEAD CORPSE AROUND IF SHE HAS TO BUT IM NOT STEPPING FOOT ON A PLANE FOR ANOTHER 14 MONTHS" But as I thought more about it and prayed more about it.. I knew that I needed to do the Lord's will. Whatever it was. If I needed to go home and get better and come back then so be it!!!

Even if.. it killed my pride.. and dignity... 

Basically I was humbled to the dust. It was so hard. I was so afraid to pray and ask because I was afraid of the answer… But then I realized… The Lord will take care of me. He knows what I need to do and I have faith that everything will be okay! So on Sunday I fasted and prayed and cried (i cried a lot... we had to swim out of the apartment.. Bahaha) and during personal study I read in Mosiah 26. Look it up. It's a great chapter. In verse 20 it says " thou art my servant: and I covenant with thee that thou shalt have eternal life; and thou shalt serve me and go forth in my name, and shalt gather together my sheep". At that moment I knew my answer. I needed to stay here in Florida no matter how bad my headaches were, the Lord would help me through them. I was so thrilled with the thought of being able to stay I about exploded I was sooo happy!!! I read the whole chapter and it just fit my situation perfectly. I know God hears and answers prayers. Sometimes you just need to be humble enough to hear the answer!

 So that was beyond amazing!! I cried some more. Cause... apparently that’s what I do.

The next day… We had an appointment to see a brother in the ward who was a chiropractor to see if anything was wrong with my back! As soon as he started checking my back and neck I was so overwhelmed with the spirit. I literally felt as if my Savior was healing me. It was one of thee coolest things I have ever felt. Apparently my c1 (a place on the spinal cord right below your skull) was moved quite a bit out of place and was pinching the nerves. He cracked it back into place and it felt like the weight of the world was gone off my shoulders. ALL OF THE RELIEF. This headache I've had for wayyy too long was gone. JUST LIKE THAT. I have a testimony of chiropractors. Haha. But I know for a fact that it wouldn't have ended this way if I hadn't decided before that no matter how bad the pain was I was going to stay on my mission.

Heavenly Father teaches lessons in the most interesting way. It's usually the hard way. But I have learned soooo much this past week and my faith in the Savior has grown exponentially. I know it wasn't the chiropractor that healed me… It was my Savior Jesus Christ. He healed me emotionally, spiritually, mentally, and physically. It was so incredible. I know that Jesus Christ lives and he can heal everyone. Even the most broken of spirits. I have witnessed that time and time again on my mission.

I AM SO HAPPY.

Thank you so much for your prayers and support! The church is true, the book is blue, and I’m happy! :) I love ya'll so much! Talk to you next week! :)

Love, Sister Chamberlain

Week 12... JAX Beaches

Hey ya’ll! Paula Deen here! (I will find and convert her by the way)

This week was pretty fantastic!!! Full of ALL THE FEELS. :D

But really. Who doesn’t like all the feels? :) (Except for Spock... he doesn't count)

OKAY! Here we goooo!

-I toured the U.S.S. New York at Mayport Bay and it was basically the coolest thing I've ever seen. A big portion of the ship was made from melted steel from the twin towers on 9/11. It was super legit and there was a cool spirit on the ship! Pictures to come! It is one of the biggest navy ships in the country!! I sat in the captain’s chair and steered the ship and all sorts of cool stuff. Definitely one of my very favorite p-day activities!!!!

-On Christmas Eve we went caroling with the whole zone and it was so much fun!!! :) I loved it so much and the look on people’s faces when they saw 16 missionaries singing to them was priceless. One lady tried to give us 500 dollars cause apparently we sounded that good. We saw it ... and all of us yelled "Run away!!! Run away!!!! “Like Joseph running away from temptation.” hahaha. It was awesome. I loved spreading that Christmas cheer! ;) We caroled an old lonely lady and that was the best. Cause old lonely ladies need 16 missionaries to spend Christmas Eve with. :)

-Christmas was so full of happy holiday goodness!!! I got to Skype my family!! Which was.. Pretty awesome. I guess.  I AM SOFT SERVING IT. ***FLAWLESS MERRIMENT. *** But really... That was amazing. I loved seeing them and talking to them and giggling at them... cause... that’s all I really did... Giggle at them. Haha. The rest of Christmas was fun we basically spent time at members houses. I beat some little kid at foosball like... 4 times in a row. Whoops. Haha. Apparently I rock at that game. No biggie. Then we had a lovely dinner with a member and her less active son who we have been working with, who CAME TO CHURCH SUNDAY. That was the greatest. I had a super terrible migraine the whole day and I felt like my head was going to fall off... but other than that it was amazing! I love Christmas!!! :) :) Cool story. I was trying to share a message with the same family about Christ but my head was hurting so bad I could barley see straight... so I prayed silent
ly and asked heavenly father to basically speak for me because I couldn't form sentences... and He helped me! I don't even remember what I said but I remember feeling the spirit really strongly! It was so cool! :) So Christmas = AMAZING.

- On the day after Christmas I had to go into Instacare to see what was wrong with my head...(what isn't wrong with my head... Bahaha) Well, I explained the doctor what was wrong and she gave me a prescription and told me I had to get a shot!!! I was expecting… like a stab in the shoulder flu shot sorta thing.

....

Nope.

...

I lost my pride that day.

Butt shots hurt.

ANNNYYWHOOOO. I’m on all the drugs. I feel like a druggie. I was put on Sumatriptan.. It made me feel like somebody beat me with a baseball bat and lit my brain of fire and my skin was all tingly. So that was... Uncomfortable. Haha. And I am finally done with my antibiotics for my sinus infection!!! AND I’m on a new drug called Tramadolol ... or something like that. Sooo, that’s fun. And when I say fun I mean I feel like I could punch a dolphin because I'm so frustrated with my headaches. YAY! *twitch* Don't fret. I'm fine. I just probably have a brain tumor or something. Bahaha. ;) BUT REALLY, I’M FINE; THEY ARE TAKING CARE OF ME.

This is going to be a long email.

On an eggy note. I tried home-made eggnog. YEAH. Good stuff. I renamed it chicken nog. It sounds both creepy and delicious. Ha.

- So the highlight of my week; Debbie got baptized!!!

..........

I'm gonna let that sink in for a bit.

...........

DEBBIE GOT BAPTIZED!

:D

That was one of the best days of my life. There are no words to explain how joyful I was on that day. It was such a beautiful service and there were more than 100 people there to support her. Simply amazing. The miracle was ALL her kids showed up!!! It was so cool! AND her minister mom! AND her minister Mom is gonna start coming to church!! WHHAT?!!!  God is just so good. She was so nervous and we got to help her get all ready and we watched her and the spirit was just so strong and
then it hit me... "Oh. This is what missionary work is" I tell you what... there is not a better feeling than that :) It was a white Christmas indeed!

This week has been awesome!!! I can't wait to see what adventures next week has in store for me! I love you all so much and I hope you had a wonderful Christmas!! :)

Love, Sister Chamberlain :) 

White Christmas!

U.S.S. New York at Mayport Bay

Captain Sister Chamberlain

   

Week 11.. JAX Beaches

That one awkward week where Sister Chamberlain got a sinus infection.....

Hey ya'll!!! :)

Merry Christmas!!!!!! :) :)

I LOVE CHRISTMAS, IT IS THE BEST~!

So this past week has certainly been.... well... interesting.

Remember when I was complaining via email about my headaches?

Well. It turned out to be a SUPERGROSSSINUSINFECTIONTHATABOUTKILLEDME.

Okay. Maybe not, killllled me. But I felt like dying..

Wednesday I got a Priesthood blessing and the Relief Society president came over and she... as the young kids would say... Hooked me up with some drugs... yo...? haha. But really.

Have any of you heard of the nasaflo?? Neither had I. 0.o.

It's basically a teapot that you shove up your nose and have the fluid go in one nostril and out the other. It was probably one of thee most uncomfortable things I have ever done. Sister Joseph and I got a pretty good laugh out of it though! ;)

Annnnd the rest of the week I was bed-ridden! I couldn't stand up without falling over and it was all just very lovely. :) I am still alive though! So no worries!!! They put me on about 5 different types of drugs to kick it out of my system and I think it's working. :) YAY FOR NOT DYING.

That said, I had a lot of down time to ponder and study and what not sooo now I shall present you with my thoughts!!! Presenting...:

ALYSSASTHOUGHTSABOUTMISSIONARYWORKANDHOWITISTHEBEEEEEST

*clears throat*

There is something about this work that is so divine, so personal, so hard, and special that it required every single ounce of your emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual strength. Missionary work is.. Invigorating. Underneath all the technicalities, numbers, plans, goals, it is a work motivated by pure love. Love! That is all it is!! Do you want to be a missionary???? LOVE THE CRAP OUTTA PEOPLE!!! Some quite sacred happens between a missionary and an investigator. There is a special bond that I am convinced was formed before we came to this earth that we have with them. When teaching investigators the gospel of Jesus Christ I am filled with this inexplainable, unfathomable, unconditional love. I wish I could explain those tender, sacred feelings. How every single ounce of your soul aches for them to come unto Christ. This is best explained by the great missionaries in the book of Mormon!

The sons of Mosiah explain it as this "now they were desirous that salvation should be declared to every creature, for they could not bear that any human soul should perish; yea even the very thoughts that any soul should endure endless torment did cause them to quake and tremble." Why the great anguish that causes even these great missionaries to "quake" and "tremble". Alma explains it perfectly. "Behold oh lord, their souls are precious". Precious. What does precious mean? Holding great worth. Priceless. Something you don’t want to lose. Being a missionary you get a keen and very personal understanding of this. It makes it about a million times more personal when you come to the realization that the Lord is trusting you with these precious souls... your brothers and sisters.

I suppose that is why we have such a strong bond to our investigators. Because they are indeed our brothers and sisters and we did live with them before we came to this earth. So basically I’m handing out the universes biggest family reunion!! Im not talking about the awkward family reunions where you don’t know anybody and the food is weird and your aunt won’t stop smooshing your cheeks and calling you shmookums... I’m talking about the one where the family is laughing, talking, and enjoying each other’s company. It is filled with light and love. That’s the family reunion I’m talking about! I want them to remember who they are. Because who they are is "great in the sight of God". They are precious.

Now missionary work isn't all sadness and stress and shaking and trembling etc... There are moments of such pure bliss and joy that make all of the hard, lonely, frustrating, disappointing times completely worth it. There is a indescribable joy you get when someone accepts the gospel of Jesus Christ. Alma once again explains it perfectly when he says "and behold when I see many of my brethren truly penitent and coming to the Lord their God, then is my soul filled with joy... my soul is carried away even to the separation of it from the body, as it were so great is my joy. " I can definitely relate. When I see an investigator progressing I feel as if my soul would explode out of my body! I was filled with so much JOY. There is nothing more sweet and joyous than seeing the light of Christ enter into someone’s eyes. It is truly incredible. Every hard moment is all worth it because these precious sons and daughters of God gain hope that they are something so much more than what the world sees them as. And that is why missionary work is the best work. It is the Lords work. I would rather be nowhere else than here reminding people of whom they truly are... Precious.

I hope all of you remember who you are! This is the Lord's work. All of this is possible because of Him. I am so thankful for that knowledge. I love my Savior with all of my heart! I am so glad we get to celebrate his birth. :) I hope all of ya'll have a very blessed Christmas! I love you so much!!!! :)

Love, Sister Chamberlain :)

Week 10... JAX Beaches

HEllloooooo!!

Well.

I never know how to start out these emails.

So... I'll tell a joke!!!

 How many elders does it take to screw in a light bulb?

None.  All you need is a sister. HA.

Okay. Down to bidness here.

Fllllooorrida is great!!! It's all Christmassy and stuff! Minus the snow.. and the family... and and and and and *cries*.

Ha Ha. In all reality this has been one of thee coolest Christmas's ever! What better gift to give Christ than 18 months of your life! Whoopee for missionary work! :D

So let me tell you about this week.

IN BULLET FORM.

I really need to calm down on the caps

-We taught D on Tuesday, which was amazing, cause she is amazing. The end. haha. We went to teach her the plan of salvation but she ended up teaching us!! It was so wonderful! I swear... she is like a golden investigator to the 10th power. Yeah. Intense. She read all of the pamphlets online and stopped drinking coffee. By herself. THAT DOESN'T HAPPEN. So she is amazing and I just love her to death. We are having a FHE with her tonight which should be lovely. Hopefully we can get her kids on board!

-We visited N as well! She is doing great! We finally committed her to the WOW and hopefully she sticks to it! I just love her sooo so so so much! She has such a sincere desire to learn more about the gospel even though she is in a bad situation. (Pray for her to get a job!!! ) Buuuut yeah! I love her. She is doing well. :)

-I still have headaches. Buuut the medical missionaries told me to drink coke and take Tylenol. haha. Yes please! I'll take a coke any day!!!

-On Thursday we had the Christmas party for the missionaries and it was amaaazing!! I loved every second of it! I was able to see everybody from my district at the MTC!! So that was really nice to see the clan all back together again! We got a picture. Cause pictures are cool. There was a talent show and that was fun! Our district sang the Christmas song from Alvin and the Chipmunks and it was... well... interesting. LOL. All the other talents were super good though! :D Then we had a Christmas devotional with lots of singing and musical numbers and they were so wonderful. All 264 missionaries were there! Have I ever told you how much I love singing with missionaries? It is basically the greatest. Our mission mom (Sister C) gave an amazing talk about the Savior and how we knew Him in the pre-existence and how we trusted Him. If we trusted him then.. We can most definitely trust Him now! That hit me really strongly! I want to have that relationship with Him again! So that was super cool! YAY CHRISTMAS!!!! :)

-After the Christmas party we got bags of presents from all the other wards! It was so nice! I picked one up that said "Sister’s bag" I open it up when I get back to my apartment and allll the presents were for an elder. hahaha. That said, I got a really nice men’s shaving kit... and men’s deodorant. HAHA.

-On Friday we went to a live nativity in Bethlehem! It is was... suuuper legit. It was like I was actually in Bethlehem! A church down here hosts it every year and about 15000 people come see it. It was amaaazing. I pet a camel. That was the best. The actual nativity with baby Jesus and Mary and stuff was kinda... anti-climatic. First you had to stand in a Disneyland-esque line and then they were kinda just on display.. it was sorta awkward cause you could still hear all the craziness around. But it probably was a lot similar to that! It's interesting how the spirit was sooorta there... but not really. Not in it's fulness. Interesting but enjoyable for sure! :)

-This week has been a lil hard for my companion cause Christmas and not being home and what not. So it's been hard to motivate her to want to work. So that’s been a little rough. But other than that.. This week has been really good!

-It's such a wonderful time to be a missionary. I love it so much. It's crazy to think it's already been 2 1/2 months. I can feel ive already changed so much. I'm still myself.. I am just mooore myself. It’s interesting having all of this stuff be stripped away from you... (music, movies, friends, family) and to really find out who you are. Without all that stuff! It's been an adventure for sure!

-That's about it for this week! Overall it's been good! Thank ya'll for everything! You are such a great strength to me out here and I love you all dearly!! Don't forget the Christ in Christmas. Have a blessed week. :)

Love, Sister Chamberlain :)

P.s. Feel free to write me letters. I would not be opposed to you writing me letters. *hiiiint*