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

Rejoice in Christ

Hi all!

It has been a crazy busy week but it has been good! I absolutely love my new companion, Sister Mayer. She is from Ogden, Utah and plays piano and does triathlons. She has an incredible testimony and is a great teacher. I am learning a lot from her.

Carlos' baptism is this coming Saturday!!! He is super excited and so ready and we are excited for him and his family. He has made serious changes in his life that are allowing him to come unto Christ. The gospel is beautiful.

We met with Hope this week and she is on date to be baptized November 30!! She is one of the sweetest people and has such a powerful testimony. I got chills when she bore her testimony. I'm so excited for her to be baptized and show to Christ and Heavenly Father her commitment to follow them.

We are going to start teaching the lessons to a boy named Noah. His mom and brother and sister are members and he wants to get baptized too!! I'm excited to get to know him and help their family to come unto Christ together. 

This is my favorite verse from this week:

2 Nephi 25:26

And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins.

I encourage you all to find ways to daily rejoice in Christ. He is our Savior and redeemer and has done so much for us. Being out on a mission is hard but it is such a small sacrifice compared to what he has done for me. Sharing his gospel has brought me blessings and it is incredible to see people change and come closer to their Savior. 

Hope you all have a safe and fun Labor Day! Love you all!

Sister Chilson

 Sister Chilson and Sister Mayer both love Nutella

 Sister Chilson and Sister Mayer

 Transfer Day!

Arizona Sunset