Thoughts for Future Missionaries

The Branch President in Chaylee's home branch asked her to answer a few questions that they will share with the youth in their branch:

1. What specific items would she would focus on to prepare?
• Read Preach My Gospel. Focus on how it can help you become a better teacher. Focus on the Spirit, and understand how you can better feel it. Being on a mission isn't about the words that you speak, or how intellectual you are. It is about if you have the Spirit with you. Remember that it isn't about you. The time that you give is for the Lord and His children. You are just a mouth piece for all of it.
2. If she could do it all over again, what would she do more of/less of?
• Study more of Preach My Gospel and focus on the way that you can help people. I would study the scriptures more and focus on the lessons that are in them. Realize that your potential is infinite. Everything that you can do is up to the Lord and God. If They want you to baptize then you will baptize. If They want you to work with those who have a struggling testimony, then that is where you will work. Everything is up to them, and realizing that it very important.
3. What traits/skills does she admire in her fellow missionaries?
• The way that they teach. To teach simply is a skill and one that I am trying to acquire. It is amazing the testimony that other missionaries can bare when they are teaching simply. Also, being able to have Godly love for the people, no matter what their situation is. Loving the people and not judging them is sometimes hard. Being able to do that it a skill, that will be forever needed.
4. What practical items (social skills, manners, cleanliness etc) would she recommend?
• Learn to clean!! One of the hardest things is to feel the Spirit in a dirty environment. If your apartment is clean, then you will receive more revelation. Manners are a big one. Remember that everyone is always watching you. You are a missionary, to kids you are like an angel to them, and what you do they will follow. Learn to say appropriate things in dinners, and to have good manners. It is very important to chew with your mouth closed!!! No one wants to see what you eat. Remember that talking to people is hard, but even smiling at someone is missionary work.
5. Testimony.
• I know that going on a mission is hard. It can seem very scary at times. I also know that it is the Lord that helps you with everything. He has been there for me, when I have needed Him the most. God loves you. He wants the best for you. He isn’t going to leave anyone behind. I know that the Gospel is true, and without it we would not be where we are today. I know that the trials that I go through are actually blessings. It is amazing to see the miracles that happen on a mission with others and with yourself. I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. Joseph Smith is a prophet of God and without him I would not be able to teach those around me. I know that we are all imperfect people, but with the perfect Gospel we can learn to be just like Jesus Christ, and God, who are perfect. I know these things to be true. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen

Week Six, Transfer Seven

Dear Family,

This past week was pretty good. I will break it down for you :)

Monday - P-day!! It was awesome to talk with the family, and then we had FHE with a group of amazing people!! The are all recent converts/investigators, and we just got to spend the time with them. It was so great!! We taught about what family home evening really is, and then talked about how it works with Sunday. We also committed the Elders' investigator who was there to come to church for 3 hours. He was having a hard time with that, and said he would be there! It was great!!! We also have dinner with a great family that night! They really welcomed us in, and took good care of us. It was awesome!!!

Tuesday - We had Zone meeting. There we got to know the missionaries in our zone a little better :) The elder that is from Guatemala has been through some hard things. It is amazing the work that he is doing. I know that the Lord prepares and helps his missionaries. I get to see that miracle every day :) We were also able to stop by and just see some great people! The less actives that we see are truly amazing! They do so
much for us, and are just great!!! We have been teaching Australian twins every Tuesday, and they are fun.
They are members, but have a hard time connecting things in the gospel, so we are helping them :) It is a lot of fun!!

Wednesday - Once again, able to see great people!! We have had a wonderful time getting to know people, and working with them. There are a lot of older people in our ward, and just getting to talk with them is great!! I love what they have to say to us!! It is amazing to hear about all of the experiences that they have had in their lives. Something that I cant wait to do when I am older with the missionaries :)

Thursday - Weekly Planning. Still not one of my favorite things to do, but it worked out! We have been able to almost have everything sorta planned out for the week. It is all working out in the end. We weren't able to see one of our investigators though. Which was very sad. They had to reschedule, which is okay. Things will get there. We had dinner with the Bermuda Dunes Bishop that night, it was great!!! They are such a cute family!! It was funny, during the dinner they acted like a family and then were apologizing for it. I was laughing! They have 7 kids, and the kids acted like kids, I was having so much fun being in a house with kids again :) I loved it!!

Friday - We went on exchanges. It was fun to be able to work in my area with a different sister. Made me realize that I know my area a lot better than I thought that I did. It was a comfort to realize that. I needed to know that because of transfers coming up. We were able to teach Daniela today, and committed her to being baptized on July 5th!! It is awesome!! The Spirit was so strong! We taught the Plan of Salvation, and it was amazing!! I love how we can have to Spirit there for us when we need Him!!

Saturday - Saturday was going to be a really busy day, but we ended up spending it in the house. At 5am I woke up with huge stomach pains, and in the course of 4 hours, I threw up 3 times. It was a long day. I ended up having a fever of 101.1*F. Luckily, I was able to sleep that night though :) So, in the end, it all worked out :) (Upon questioning Chaylee assured us that she is feeling much better.)

Sunday -  It was church, and after the hard day on Saturday, we pushed though the 5 hours of it. It went well though. Felt the Spirit, and gained strength from it. It was pretty cool! We found out about transfers, and Sister Kelly and I are staying in the desert for another transfer!! I am so excited to work with her again!!

(When asked who she was teaching she gave us the following list:)

• Carlos who is 11 and getting baptized on the 15th of June 
• Kathryn and Crystal 
• Daniella who is 18 and getting baptized on the 5th of July

Things are going great!!

I love you all so much!! have a great week!!!

Sister Randall

Week Five Transfer Seven

Dear Family and Friends,

This week was a really good one! I liked how I wrote last weeks email, because I didn't forget anything, so I am gonna do that again :)

Monday - It was P-day!!! Almost the best day of the week. We were able to go shopping, email the family, and just chill. I was able to paint my nails, which I didn't realize that I was going to miss so much! It was nice to have nails that looked really pretty again :) We were also able to meet with two less actives!!! We met with the Sterlings, which is an amazing family! Sister Sterling is a return missionary, who has just had a hard time getting back into the gospel. I have realized that after missionaries go on missions a lot of them go less active. It is sad, but we are here to help bring them back! We were also able to meet with Sister Ricketson. She is also an amazing sister!! She is a foster mom, and just one of the sweetest people I have met. She cares a lot about the missionaries, which is great! Because it was the day after Mother's Day, we shared with them a couple of Mothers Day videos. It was so good!!!

Tuesday - We had zone conference!! We spent from like 8:15am - 4:15pm in meetings! It was actually really good. We were able to learn more about how to go some great work! There are things that we have to change, but it is all going great! President is actually really proud of us with how we are doing. I have to say, it is nice to hear that we are actually doing okay because there are days, and I am positive there are other missionaries that feel this way, I just feel like I have failed. But, I haven't! Which is so nice to know. :) We were then able to stop by and see the Correnti's. They are an amazing mother/daughter duo! We have really been able to get along with them. It has just been wonderful! I am really falling in love with the members here!!! We are also teaching 12 year old twins! They are members, but we have been asked to see them and help their teacher with the lessons that she teaches them on Sunday. It has been going great. Like most teenagers, they are a little crazy, but it is still going really well!!

Wednesday - We got go teach Kathryn. She is one of our investigators who is slowly progressing in the gospel. She is a sweet lady, and just needs someone to help strengthen her spiritually. It has been good :) We were also able to see Sister Ricketson again. This time we shared with her Matthew chapter 6. It was so good! Matthew 6 talks a lot about being a light and the light that Christ  has and how we need to take it and capture it inside of us. It is a way good chapter!!

Thursday - It was a way busy day. We had weekly planning, but weren't able to finish it because we had tons of appointments. It was good though. We met with a recent convert who just moved into our ward. Her name is Michelle, and she is great!! She is like a big ball of fire, and is just so much fun to be around!!  I loved getting to know her and helping her. She has planned a really fun FHE activity for tonight, it will be awesome!!! We then picked up a new investigator!!! He is 11, and named Carlos, and has told us that he is getting baptized!!! It is amazing!!! He is really understanding the gospel and is doing great!! We then met with the Correnti's and just love them!!! They are wonderful!!! We also had dinner with the Biesinger's, and they are great! I have loved getting gto know this ward!! There are some amazing members here!!!

Friday - We picked up Crystal again!! We were able to meet with her again, and picked her up as a new investigator!! It was great! There are things that are going to be worked out but we are getting there! It is wonderful!! So, she is a new investigator!! Yay!!! It was great!! We also had dinner with the Richardson's, who are also amazing! Once again, so many wonderful people!!! We got to teach Daniela as well! She is the 18 years old, that we are teaching the lessons to. She is having a hard time, but is way excited about the gospel!! She is amazing!! We met with her and are really enjoying helping her!

Saturday - We were finally able to finish weekly planning! It took us awhile but it was so good! We have been taught a new way to plan and it took a while but things now are going great!! We got to meet with Carlos again, he is getting baptized on June 15!! It is amazing!!! We then met with Sister Sterling again and talked about her mission a lot and how it isn't about numbers when you teach but about the souls that you are saving. It was a really neat experience. Well, while we were there the power flickered. No one thought too much about it. Well, when we got to the apartment the power was out. Only in our part of the grid though. It was just gone. It was crazy!! So, we did our planning by flashlight, which was a miracle that we had. The one I had gotten before I left my mission got lost and I wasn't going to get a new one. But, I did, and was very grateful. I have never needed one before until that night. We got really distracted though... Shadow puppets are tons of fun!!! Just saying :)

Sunday - It was nice :) It seems to be the one day that is the busiest but also really nice to have. We had dinner with one of our ward mission leaders and the other elders. It was fun to get to know them. We have a new elder who was serving in the Ukraine mission, but because of the unrest there he is here with us. It is fun. He is way tall though, which is making me feel very very short. I know that I am not, but it is making me feel that way.

All in all, it was a great week! We are working really well with out Ward Mission Leaders, and just having a great time!! Everything is just going great!! I am feeling great, and just doing amazing!!!

Thank you so much for all of your support! I love you so much!! Have a great week! You are all in my prayers!!!

Sister Randall

Week Four Transfer Seven

Dear Family,

This week was an odd one. We weren't able to meet with a lot of people, mainly because we weren't ever really in our area much this week.

Monday was P-day, so we spent most of that doing what we normally do. Email, shop, clean, relax. That night we didn't have a dinner, so we fed ourselves and then went to go and see a less active in our ward. We also went to go and help her. We ended up dying her daughters hair black. First time I have ever dyed hair, lets just say that I don't ever want to do that again. I felt like I was totally ruining her hair, it was so sad :( But we were able to help a less active, so it was all good :)

Tuesday we had our normal meetings. It was an hour and a half being told on how to work better, and to get the work done that we need to get done. It was good :) We were also able to try and see some less actives in the ward. It was just a little difficult, but still a good week :)

Wednesday was my doctor appointment. I was able to get a member ride, so that Sister Kelly could be with either sister and work in their area. It was a little difficult, but still good. I made it back just in time to go to dinner, and then to stop and go to Young Womens. It was Bermuda Dunes night, so we were able to be with them and have fun at their mothers day activity. The moms and the girls we both there. It was so neat!!!

Thursday was weekly planning, which meant trying to figure out how to work in the area for this coming week, and trying to fit everything in. We then finished that right before dinner. At dinner we had whole wheat waffles that were to die for!! They were sooo good!!! Thursday night we had a baptism. It was small, but very intimate. The Spirit was so strong there! I have never been to a better baptism. I loved it!!!

Friday we were on exchanges which meant that I left Sister Kelly in our area and went to another area with a sister training leader, think zone leader only for sisters. It was so good! That sister had a baptism on Saturday, so we were setting up for that, and working hard. It was good. I had a fun time seeing another part of the desert :)

On Saturday we had to go to an 8 year old baptism, because I had to play the piano at it. It was really fun to be there. We also got to Skype our families!! It was so good to see and hear my family again!!! It was crazy to think that if I go home my early transfer, I will be going home right before Christmas, so the next time I would see my family will be in person!! How awesome is that! Things are just going by so fast!! I love it so much! We were also able to go to a musical about the 10 virgins parable. It was so good! The Spirit was so strong there, and just amazing!

Sunday was Sunday :) Went to church, felt the Spirit. Had a great time. We had an investigator there, which was great :)

This week was good. A little harder than others, but still a great week!

Hope everyone has a good week!! Stay safe! You are in my prayers!!!

I love you all!!!

Transfer Seven Week Three

Dear Family,

This week was a crazy one, and a slow one. It was just a little different, but busy. I don't know. Just a different kind of week.

We are having a baptism this coming week!!! YAY!!!!!! Her name is Karina, and she is amazing!! She was raised in the church, but was never baptized. Her own sister thought that she was baptized, yeah, that is how into the church she was. Well, she is now in her 50's or 60's, she looks way young, and is ready to be baptized!! How awesome is that?? She was given to us, all prepared, and all ready to go! It is amazing!! I love how the Lord works :) Well, she is getting baptized, and after some drama of finding a font (we thought we were going to have to baptize her in her pool) we have it confirmed that on Thursday at 7 she will become one of cleanest people in the world :) How awesome is that!?!?!? I am pretty excited for it :) Karina is an amazing sister, and very loving :) Her husband is a non member, but totally supports her in every decision that she makes :) I love it!!! :)

We also picked up a new investigator this week!! Her name is Daniella, and she is great! She is 18 and a senior in High School, and is just awesome! She wants to have a marriage that lasts forever, so the first time we met with her, we told her that marriages in the church, are for eternity. They don't end at death. That made her really happy :) It was awesome!! She is so ready for the gospel, and is very prepared! We are so happy to be teaching her! She is just soaking up the information that we give her :) It is awesome!!

This week we have started to work on teaching 5 minute lessons to our members at dinner. It was amazing when we did it for the first time! The Spirit was so strong, and we asked the members how we did at the end, and they gave us some really helpful hints. It was awesome!!

This area is great! The people we are working with are amazing, and we are having a great time!!! There are so many people here that are so loving and ready to serve the missionaries :)

Oh, some exciting news :) Ernest got baptized, and I was able to be there!!! It was amazing!!! I had an awesome time going and seeing those that I worked with before :) I missed them, but after going back I know that I am supposed to be where I am! Heavenly Father know everything!! It is amazing!!!

Sister Kelly and Chaylee with their new haircuts. :)

I love you all so much!! Have a great week!!!! You are all in my prayers!!!