Transferred!! New Address!

Hey Family!

Happy May! Since it is the last week of the transfer, we have P-day on Tuesday instead of Monday. Big News: I am getting transferred to Baton Rouge 2nd Ward! I will be working with Sister Jones and we have been called to be Sister Training Leaders (the female equivalent of a zone leaders). Yikes! But I am so excited to have an opportunity to serve missionaries and members alike in my new area. Effective Wednesday, my new address will be:

11580 Perkins Road #4

Baton Rouge, LA 70810

 

Thanks for all the letters! I love getting them! I promise to write back soon! In the mean time, I just wanted to say that I've loved serving on LSU campus, and I'm gonig to really miss the people and my companion. Me and Sister Olsen have grown really close and I'm going to miss her a ton. But we will still be in the same district, so I will see her at least once a week in district meetings, hooray! I attached a picture, hopefully it comes through! It's of me and Sister Olsen, having a little fun in the car with some buckets. Good times!

 

I wanted to share a little about the people that we've taught in the last week and who I'm really going to miss. I was going to label them the good, the bad, and the ugly, but that's much too harsh. Even our experience with "R" wasn't ugly per se, just not as awesome as we'd hoped. So I will label them good, better, and best.

 

Good: Visited with "R" on Sunday, a potential investigator who'd requested a free bible from mormon.org. When we dropped it off three weeks ago, we also gave him a Book of Mormon and taught him about the restoration. He's from Ghana, and we aren't sure how much he actually understood, but he seemed open. We finally got to go back and talk with him again, and he told us that everything he needs to know is in the Bible, and he doesn't believe in the Book of Mormon. He hadn't read at all, and we were bummed because he didn't seem to give it a fair chance. We tried reading 1 Nep. 1:1 with him, and tried to relate it to him (everyone has hard times but can still know that God is good and looking out for us) and he still refused to acknowledge that the Book of Mormon might be a good thing. So we were pretty discouraged, but then the next day, he texted us and told us about a trial that he was going through, just like we'd read about, and we gave him some encouragement. He was really appreciative, and hopefully someday in the future he gives the Book of Mormon a chance because it really does change lives and brings people to Christ.

 

Better: Talked with a member named "E", who got baptized a few years ago. He is active, but seems socially converted rather than spiritually converted, and the Bishop asked us to help answer his questions and strengthen his faith. And I freaking love "E", because even though he thinks I'm pretty weird (aka: I'm not afraid to ask him hard questions) he really opens up to us and he really does have great faith, which inspires me to have more faith and don't let what I don't know bog me down. And Sunday we were able to talk and teach him about clinging to what we know, and told him that it's okay to ask questions. I love visiting with "E", because I always feel the Savior's love for him, and I hope that I am helping "E" feel the Savior's love.

 

Best: Met with "J", a freshman as LSU. We've been slowly teaching her about the gospel, and she is so willing and open to new ideas, she's just been really busy. So we heart attacked her door to encourage her through finals week, and then we actually got to teach her later. And even though we weren't super prepared, we taught her a little bit about the Plan of Salvation, and the spirit was there so strong you could almost cut it with a knife. I got to bear testimony of Jesus Christ, and I could feel my own testimony being strengthened as I did so. Isn't it great that Heavenly Father allows us to grow as we reach out to others? It seems backwards, but it's a reality. "J" will be in and out of Baton Rouge for the summer, but she will be back in the fall, and she committed to reading the Book of Mormon overthe summer. I am so excited for her, and I hope the Spirit testifies to her as she reads. She came to church last Sunday, and she said that she felt uplifted. I want so badly for her to continue in building her relationship with God.

 

Sorry for the length of this epistle. Missionary work is just so great, and I can't wait to continue to be a missinoary for the rest of my life, even when I don't get to where a name badge, I hope that I will always have Christ's name written in my heart. I love you al and hope you have a wonderful week! You all rock my socks!

-Sister Chausow

Hey Friends and Family-  This is Mama Chausow.  The picture of Johanna and her companion with the buckets on their heads is hysterical!!  Totally Johanna!!  But unfortunately only a small area of her companion's ear would actually appear when I tried to post it here.  So I will keep "playing" and hopefully there will be one blog of just pictures!

Thanks for all the letters you have been sending!!  She LOVES them!

Toodles!  Mama C