June 25th, 2012

June 25th

Hey Chelsie, It was so good to get your email. I have sent off a letter and now I am emailing you. I will probally be repeating myself a little bit so I hope you don't mind. It made me cry of happiness that Keagan gets excited and still knows who I am when you show him pictures of me. I hope he always will remember me. That is exciting that you will be starting him on swimming lessions. I excited to hear all about it and all about all of you adventures with him.

 

I have survived my first week here in the field. My flight was great and I enjoyed it. It wasn't has bad as I thought it would be, however, I did not like landing in made my stomach feel all weird. President Becerra is amazing and him and his wife have been so welcoming. They are great people. They actually met here while they were serving a mission and have been blessed to be called to serve here as a mission president. I really like them and have enjoyed getting to know them. My first area that I am in is called Glendora. I am serving with a singles ward and a family ward. Yesterday was my first time meeting both wards and they were both so welcoming. I think I will enjoy it. My companions name is Sister Fleming and she is from Minnesota. She has been here for about 6 months and is now my trainer. She is an amazing person and has a strong testimony. She keeps me going when times get tough. She is so good at encouraging me to be strong and to move along each day.

      A mission is something totally different than I had in mind. It is so much harder and has been a strength building process for myself. It isn't so much about going out and tracking anymore. We are working with the ward member and former investigators. We have been working with a few families and a single women. The single women Loretta has been taking the discussions for a couple of weeks now. Last Thursday we went and taught her about the plan of salvation and I invited her to be baptized. She said yes and started to cry because she knew that it was the right thing to do and said that she was excited and was going to really read the book of Mormon. We scheduled to meet with her again and Saturday, but she called and cancelled because she felt super overwhelmed and had lots of questions, but didn't want us to meet with her. She said that she needed a break for a little bit. When we got off the phone with her I was so discouraged and thought to myself how could something so great turn into something not. The rest of the day seemed to me like that and everyone was falling through. It has been a struggle for me to accept this and to remember that people have their agency to choice and that maybe I am only suppose to plant a seed into their heart. As I read and prayed for comfort I came across a scripture in D&C 18:15 and talks about how it doesn't matter how many souls that I bring back as long as I bring one back (which is me). Also yesterday in sacrament one of the speakers shared a story about an Elder who served a two year mission and never once did he baptized someone, but he worked hard and became a successful missionary and changed for the better.

     It isn't all about the baptisms it is about serving the Lord with all of my mind, heart, and strength and do what Jesus Christ would do if he were still on this earth. When we get our mission call we are called to "SERVE" and not to just "CONVERT". As I go about my days I am finally understanding that this is so true and I know that I can be a servant to the LORD. Also in my scripture reading I read in D&C 31. (you all should read that as a family and talk about it) That because I chose to serve the Lord you all are being blessed and being watched over. It also states that for a "little" time I will be doing what Christ would want me to be doing and knows that I can do this hard thing and be successful in my missionary work. I thought to myself that this is so true and if you think about it Christ lived his whole life serving his people and serving us so that we can return to live with our Heavenly Father. Because of this great example I too can give up 18 months of my life and give my 100% to the Lord and serve my fellow brothers and sisters.

     I am so grateful for all the hard time and afflictions that come my way and I know that with the Lords help am I strengthened and that I can do all things that seem impossible. I love this gospel so much and I am glad that you, mom and dad have brought us up in the church and has taught us all that we needed to know. Getting all of your letters, pictures and emails is what gets me through those tough times and also through prayer. I have grown to love the scriptures and have learned to turn to them in my need of comfort. I love being a missionary and have seen many tender mercies of the Lord already. I love each and one of you and think of you all often. I hope you all doing great and being happy. Always remember to smile and turn to the Lord when you are needing comfort.

 

Loves and hugs Sister Ackley