10/21

 Sisters Mayer, Howard, Chilson, and Parke

 Landed safely in Rochester

 My niece representing my mission

Kloe's baptism (I got to teach her some of the lessons before I came home; she got baptized in January 2020)

Trust in the Lord

Hello!

This week turned out to be very unlike what I thought it would be. Wednesday we had zone conference and gained insight from President and Sister Andrews. They spoke on the Christ-like attribute of patience and how we can apply personal revelation into our lives. 

Thursday was Noah's baptism!!! The room was packed! So many ward members and missionaries came to support him. I love Noah and his family so much. I have spent many nights eating dinner with them and laughing with them on my mission. I'm so proud of Noah and the choice he made to follow Jesus Christ. I know the only way to Christ is by being baptized by someone holding the priesthood (or power from God) to do the Lord's work. He also received the gift of the Holy Ghost on Sunday. Yay Noah!!!

I went on exchanges (different companion for 24 hours) on Friday and I spent the day with Sister Parke in her area. We had a great day together. We met with some wonderful people and helped spread the light of Christ. Sister Parke reminds me of my older sister, Sarah, so that is cool :)

Saturday was a very hard day. I am heading home from my mission early due to medical reasons. I am heartbroken about leaving Mesa and the people I have met on my mission. I am still trying to understand why God's plan for me has turned out so different than I imagined. I am trying to remain strong in my faith in Him and praying to find answers and guidance. My mission has been one of the most difficult things that I have done in my life but I do not regret it one bit. Those moments of joy, seeing people accept Jesus Christ and his Gospel, filled my heart. Seeing 3 amazing people enter the waters of baptism has made me realize how important making covenants (promises) with God are. I'm not exactly sure what is next for me but I do know our Heavenly Father lives. He has a plan for me. I have grown in my testimony on my mission and I plan to continue growing throughout my life. I know Jesus Christ is our Savior. His love is perfect and infinite. I want so badly for everyone to know that! He suffered, he died, and now he LIVES. His grace is sufficient for all of us. 

Much love,

Sister Chilson

My zone at zone conference

Noah's baptism 

Sister Parke, a skeleton, and I

10/14

 My district

 Hair troubles are real

Sister Howard & I

David got Baptized!

Hey all,  

It has been a decent week. We met someone new! She has coworkers that are members of the Church and has lots of questions for us. She is very sweet and works a lot but we have an appointment to see her again on Thursday! 

David got baptized!!! It was such a great evening. Lots of members came and supported him and some of his nonmember friends came too. David has one of the strongest testimonies I have ever heard. It has been such a pleasure teaching him. He received the gift of the Holy Ghost on Sunday and bore his testimony in sacrament meeting. He is amazing!!

Saturday we helped at Jacob's mission again. We knocked down a wall which was fun. 

Last night we had our monthly Why I Believe fireside. People give talks and missionaries do musical numbers. I got to accompany one of the choir pieces which was actually a lot of fun! Playing piano is one of my refuges on the mission for sure. 

Our friend Noah's baptism got moved to this coming Thursday so I will tell you all about how that goes next week! There are amazing people in this area that are willing to hear about the gospel of Jesus Christ. I know this gospel changes lives and can bring true joy. 

Hope y'all have a fantastic week!

Love,

Sister Chilson

 David's Baptism

David's Baptism

The crew at Wendy's (i still have a frosty obsession:)

Squinting in the sun

Milkshake at Fuddruckers

Cooking, Hikes and Conference!

Hi!!

Tuesday my district and I had a cooking class with a non member who wanted to teach us. It was pretty fun even though cooking isn't my thing. We made some delicious Asian food.

We met someone new this week! She met with our Bishop and he referred her to us saying she was interested in learning about the church. We talked to her about the Restoration of the gospel and she accepted a copy of the Book of Mormon and said she would read and pray about it! Hopefully we'll meet with her again soon.

This morning I went on a hike with my zone. It was interesting doing a hike in the desert verses in New York or Canada. It was a lot of fun though! Pictures below :)

This weekend was general conference when we got to hear from President Nelson, the current prophet, and other church leaders. One thing I took away from conference was that God wants us to experience joy on this earth. If I'm being completely honest, I have had trouble finding joy on my mission. I know I am doing the Lord's work but that doesn't make all your problems go away. Finding joy daily is something I want to work on and hope to study from the conference talks and messages I heard this weekend. 

Hope you all are doing well and enjoying cooler weather because it is still about 100 degrees here...

Also! Transfers is tomorrow but I will be staying in my same area with my same companion :) for at least the next 6 weeks. 

Love,

Sister Chilson 

Cooking class

Me with steak I made

Me jumping in apparently what Arizona calls a cave...

 Sister Mayer, Sister Howard, and I

 Lots of cacti

  My zone

 My district plus a few people

10/7

9/30

 Monsoon-ing

 People canoeing in a water retention basin

 S'mores at Sister Hansen's house

Soaking wet from the rain!

Mission tour and Triathlon...

Hello hello!

Here are some highlights from my week...

We had a mission tour on Wednesday. This is when a general authority, or church leader, comes and checks out our mission. We took a picture (see below) and received a lot of counsel from President Andrews, Sister Andrews, and Elder and Sister Pieper who were the ones visiting the Mesa mission. They talked about the importance of working with members of the church to progress the missionary work. They talked about extending baptismal invitations, and the importance of following God's laws, or commandments. I received some inspiration of things I want to change as a missionary and disciple of Christ.

We found two new people to teach this week! We received a referral for someone who may be interested in learning about the Church but turns out they arent super interested at the moment but her dad and son are!! So we talked with them about their religious background and gave them copies of the Book of Mormon and are having our first lesson with them tonight :)

Saturday was the Mesa triathlon and we got to volunteer there. For those who dont know (because I didnt haha....) a triathlon is when you swim 400 meters, bike 12 miles, and run 3 miles. My whole life I thought a triathlon meant you run a marathon and then my companion was like, what? Maybe I'm just dumb but you learn new things all the time haha. Sister Mayer and I are going to do a triathlon together someday, now that I know you dont have to run a marathon.

For those who dont know... this coming weekend is general conference!!! Twice a year we hear from our living prophet and his apostles and other church leaders. This is a time to prepare to humble ourselves for their counsel. It is very exciting!! You can tune in at ChurchofJesusChrist.org. 

I have a new favorite scripture! It is found in the Book of Mormon in Alma 29:9-10. 

9 I know that which the Lord hath commanded me, and I glory in it. I do not glory of myself, but I glory in that which the Lord hath commanded me; yea, and this is my glory, that perhaps I may be an instrument in the hands of God to bring some soul to repentance; and this is my joy.

10 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; then do I remember what the Lord has done for me, yea, even that he hath heard my prayer; yea, then do I remember his merciful arm which he extended towards me.

I know this is the work of God and He is preparing people to hear His restored gospel. I am only an instrument in His hands. I know that true joy can come from the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

Love you all! 

Sister Chilson

Arizona sunset, nothin' better (:

Volunteering at the triathlon 

Mission tour photo

Picture from the temple that I forgot to send last week

Tickle Fights

Hi all! Happy fall! We finally have weather under 100 degrees here! Yay! 

Tuesday I had exchanges with my sister training leaders and this time I stayed in my area and was companions with Sister Howard for the day! She is from Washington and is the youngest of 7 children! She has been out on her mission for over a year. We worked hard together and had a miracle that night. A family we are teaching whose dad is a member but his 3 children are not, decided they want to be baptized!!! We will continue meeting with them and teaching them the rest of the missionary lessons but their baptismal date is currently October 19. Yay!

Wednesday we went to the temple and I had the opportunity to perform ordinances for one of my ancestors! The temple is such a special place and I know it is the house of the Lord. 

Saturday someone in Sister Mayer's previous area got baptized! She helped teach him some of the lessons so we went and supported him and it was a special day. When someone chooses to follow Christ and make promises with God to follow Him, I feel happy inside because I know they are doing something that will bless their lives and their family.

This weekend was stake conference which means that multiple wards (congregations) gather together for church. It was a great meeting and I received inspiration from the spirit on some things I want to change. The Holy Ghost is amazing.

I know this gospel is true and can calm our souls when we are feeling overwhelmed. I know the Book of Mormon brings peace and happiness and guidance and that it is the word of God. I encourage all to check it out :)

Love,

Sister Chilson

Sister Howard and I 

95 degrees and sunny

Roberto's baptism

Gilbert Temple from the front

My zone minus a few people who left before we took pictures....

We Have A Living Prophet Who Loves Us

Hi all! This week was another hectic one but we survived! 

There was another baptism in my area! The Elders taught him but he is part of Sister Mayer and I's ward. It was a wonderful baptism and I got to do a musical number with some other sister missionaries. I sang in a trio and Sister Mayer played piano. It was stressful but fun too. 

We had two more lessons with Noah and he is progressing a lot! It is fun to teach him because he has great questions and he is hilarious. Teaching children is an adventure haha. 

We received a referral of someone interested in the missionary discussions and we gave him a tour of the church building and he seems fairly interested so hopefully we will be able to start teaching him soon. 

In other news... my sister had her baby this week so I have officially joined the Aunt club!!! Hopefully she doesn't mind me sharing that in this email. It was just a highlight of my week! :) My little niece is precious and I'm so happy that she has joined us here on earth. She comes from amazing parents, both earthly and Heavenly, and therefore, I know she will do amazing things here on this earth.

I am blessed to be able to tell people about their loving Heavenly Father. Each time I share messages with others about Jesus Christ it strengthens my own knowledge of him. Tomorrow morning the prophet is sharing a devotional with young adults all over the world and I encourage all to watch it at churchofjesuschrist.org. I promise it will be a spiritually uplifting experience and a chance for us to hear the word of God since that is what prophets do, they share with us the messages that God needs us to hear. I am so grateful for a living prophet!!!

Love you all,

Sister Chilson

My niece :)

             Snow Cones from Bahama Buck's

                                                                 Rainbow after a storm

Pictures 9/16

 Lunch at Backyard Taco

 Shades on and crusin'

 The sky!

 Out workin' hard

Frosting mustaches

First Baptism!

Hi all!

It has been a very busy week. Tuesday was zone conference where we received training from the mission president and his wife and other leaders in the mission. It was a lot of spiritual guidance at once but I was able to make some new goals of how I want to improve as a missionary moving forward.

We found a cockroach in the baptismal font on Thursday so we had to make sure to clean that before Saturday! We wiped the mirror and window pane and mopped the floors and killed the cockroach by spraying him with lots of cleaning spray haha. The Elders bought us polar pops and donuts so that was nice :)

Sister Mayer's birthday was on Saturday! It was one of the busiest days ever but for dinner we ate with a sweet family and we sang to her. Carlos' baptism went so well!! It was the best experience of my mission thus far. SO many people came to support him from the ward and their family who are non members. I played the piano and did a musical number with Sister Sherman who played the cello.

My mission also does this thing where when the person who got baptized is changing into dry clothes, the missionaries in the area do a presentation on the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This was such a tender moment! The spirit was totally present in the room and I started to cry (good tears) when I recited the first vision. The first vision depicts when Joseph Smith prayed to God and asked which of the churches on the earth were His church. God the Father and Jesus Christ appeared to him and told him that none of the churches at the time had the fullness of the gospel and that he would be the next prophet. Ask any member of the church (or me) for more info if you want :) I know with all my heart that Jospeh Smith was a prophet of God and restored Christ's original church back on this earth. I know the Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ and that it is the word of God. 

Other exciting news, we have been teaching a boy named Noah whose mom and brother and sister were baptized a few months ago. Noah has a desire to be baptized so we picked a date to work towards! October 12th, baby!! Woot woot!! I love seeing this gospel change lives. It's truly the work of God. 

Hope you all are doing well and enjoying cooler weather. It is supposed to be under 100 degrees for the next few days! ;)

Love,

Sister Chilson

My zone and President and Sister Andrew's

Carlos' baptism!

Mesa sign

The beautiful, Sister Mayer, AKA birthday girl

 

                                                           Polar pops and blue tongues

                                                                       Mr. Cockroach

                                                             Cleaning the baptismal font

Sister Mayer & I + Sister Reiman's hand