Hey mama! Thanks for you letter! Loved hearing the update on home. I love hearing about how God answers prayers. Sounds like yall had some crazy weather! The weather down here has been crazy nice - it was so weird, we went to a barbeque yesterday - in November! With no coat! Me and Sister Alvine were just laughing that we rarely if ever need a coat. She is kind of dreading going back to Salt Lake where it is snowy and cold.
Life here is clipping along. This last week was full of crazy events. Charlie Potts, a dear old lady in 1st ward passed away. The Perkins' (a family in 2nd ward) house burned down. We were told that the North elders were getting transferred out on Saturday and that the Zone leaders would be coming in instead. And then we were told never mind, that's not happening. They will wait until transfers (the second wednesday of December). And then last night we found out that we will be getting a new sister for the last 2 and half weeks of the transfer. Sister Lyons, who was serving in Albany, will be with me and Sister Alvine. Her companion was waiting for her visa to Australia and it finally came, so Sister Lyons will take her to the airport today and then we will go down to Baton Rouge and pick her up so that she won't be by herself. I'm a little nervous to be in a trio again - I was in a trio in the MTC and it was a little tricky. But Sister Alvine is so chill, I think it will be okay. I got to know Sister Lyons a little better while I was on exchanges with the Sister Training Leaders - I went to Amite and we went to district meeting and the Albany sisters are in the same district as the Amite sisters, so I got to interact with her a little bit. She is super cool and I'm excited that we get to serve around eachother, but we are pretty different, and I'm hoping we will get along ok.
I realized this week that I'm wound up pretty tight, I get stressed easily, and I'm not super go with the flow. And that's ok, that's just who I am right now. I've started praying that I can be a little more chill and submissive to the will of the Lord, and be more loving and accepting of people who don't see things the same way I do. I'm not sure how or why I got so uptight, but it's ok, I'm working on it, and being diligent and valiant is a good thing as long as I don't act like a fanatic or a zealot. :)
Well I just love you so much, I'm so thankful that I have you as my mom. Seriously don't know where I'd be without you. Thank you for your support and love and encouragement. You are a rock star mama!
Love, Sister Chausow
Hey Daddy!
So good to hear from you! That missionary fireside sounds awesome! We did something kind of like that in Baton Rouge - only it was just a music and the spoken word thing without the tour of the church building. But tours of the church building is something that they started encouraging so I'm sure we will start doing that at some point.
We don't work online yet, that has yet to hit our mission. Eventually we will have access to a facebook account where we can friend people, share gospel stuff on line, and teach via facebook chat. I'm really excited, because there have been some contacts I've had whom i would've love to be able to stay in contact via facebook because they live outside our area. Or there are less actives who we could've fellowshipped via facebook. So I'm patiently waiting (kind of) for when we get to use Facebook to proselyte. Another cool thing is having our area book online. When we get that we will be able to update our area book in the car right after appointments or contacts, which will help records be more current and thorough, and it will allow others to see our progres with less actives and investigators (ward mission leader, mission president, bishop, etc...) which is super cool as well. Some day it will get here!
The W Family is doing good. We had an awesome awesome lesson with them on Thursday night - we prepared a ton, and tried to listen to the Spirit as we prepared, and we brought a member and her daughter who is almost the same age as the twins. Traci and Allie Tyler were awesome! Allie connected really well with the twins and D opened up and was sharing photos with Traci. We are hoping to teach the W's in the Tyler's home on Sunday. Brother Tyler is hilarious - he has the thickest southern drawl, he investigated the church for 16 years before he was baptized, and he is basically the southern version of Rich Houdek. When we skype on Christmas we are going to do it at their house, but he said only if he could call and talk to you first. So if on Christmas day you get a call from him, just go with it - I love this guy! Their whole family is amazing.
Sunday had some triumphs and some not so triumphs - J, J, and H all came to church! None of them stayed for the rest of the meetings though, so that's kind of a bummer. But the fact that J was there floored me - just a few days earlier she had told us that she is good with where she's at, she doesn't have a ton of desire to come to church or be involved. But then she came! So I guess no effort goes unwasted. The W's didn't come to church, which was a big bummer. We are hoping that if Dcomes to trust Traci enough, she will let Traci give her daughters a ride to church is she doesn't want to go. I think Dawn has a lot of fear and she is afraid people will judge her or she is afraid that she won't be able to keep up with all the things that being a "fullt ime Mormon" requires her to do. I don't know. We really need to strengthen her if we are going to help her daughters, but I don't think she fully trusts us yet. She still has some barriers up, which I know the Lord will help us to get through as long as we saty patient and diligent.
Daddy, I love this work so much. I can't wait to get home and swap mission stories with you. I don't know a ton about your mission and I wish I did. The mission becomes such a huge part of your life, and I want to know about yours. Thank you for supporting me in this endeavor - it really is the greatest work on earth! I pray for you guys that you will have your own missionary moments and that you guys can "catch the wave" too! :)
Love you millions!
-Johanna
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