December 2, 2013

December 2

Hello my dear family and friends!

 

I am going to be short here because I have a lot to do today and I am going to see you all in a week!

 

Thanksgiving was good. We ate dinner at the Arellano's. They are such amazing people. Sis. Arellano is recovering from a stoke and is doing great. She is the brightest and cheerful person. She loves the gospel so much and is willing to do whatever to help us sisters with our missionary work. I have grown so attached to her and it will be so sad to say goodbye to her. That night after we ate, we watched some mormon messages and it was amazing to feel the spirit come into the home that night. I love this time of year. We have so much to be thankful for. I am grateful for all that I have been given and I thank my Heavenly Father everyday for the things that I have.

 

We have had a bit of a rough week, but then it got better on Sunday. We were able to do a lot of contacting on the buses and found a few people that is interested in learning more from us. We met this one kid who wants to know how he can be forgiven of all of his sins. He wants to change his ways and wants to become better. We got his number and said we would call him and set somethiong up with him for this week and we will teach him how he can be forgiven of his sins. It was an amazing experience. We also talked to another kid who we have set up a tour with. He doesn't have a religious background and is interested in know more about God. He does believe that there is a God and wants to know more about the purpose of life. Sister Denney and I are very excited for this coming week and we pray and have faith that great things are going to happen this week.

 

I know that with prayer we can be guided by the spirit to those people that He has prepared for us to find. I know that this is the true gospel and that the Book of Mormon can answer life's questions. I know that this is the only way to have true happiness and to totally cleanse from our sins. I love my Heavenly Father and I love my Savior. I am forever grateful for these past 18 months to serve the Lord! I will always cherish the many memories I have here!! I love you all and I hope you have a wonderful week. I will see you soon!!

 

Love, Sister Ackley

November 25, 2013

November 25

Hey Everyone! I hope you are all doing well and enjoying your day! I love and miss you all so much!

 

 I just really want to send you all a Thanksgiving testimony. I am so very grateful for each one of you. I feel so blessed to have so many friends and family that love and support me. There are no words to describe the way that I feel. I am so grateful for my two loving parents, who taught me all the things that I need to know and that I was able to learn from the best examples. I  am grateful for the family that Heavenly Father has blessed me with. I am also so grateful for the friends in my life and the many things that I learn from them too. I am especially grateful for my Heavenly Father and my Savior Jesus Christ. I have always known that I have a loving Heavenly Father, but it wasn't till I came on my mission what that love really was. The challenges and trials that I have been faced with have showed me that Heavenly Father wants nothing more than for us to know how much He cases and loves us. He shows us His great love for us by sending His only begotten son, Jesus Christ to atone for all sins and to heal us in times of trial. Heavenly Father loves us so much that He provided a way for all of His children to return to live with Him again.

 

I am so grateful for Jesus Christ. Knowing what He did for me has brought me such comfort. I have been able to use the Atonement many times one my mission and it wasn't until a difficult time that I realized that Christ is there to make up the difference. On of my favorite scriptures is found in Alma 7:11-12. No matter whom we are or what we are going through our Savior knows exactly what we are going through in our lives and is there to help us. He went before us so that we wouldn't have to go through our trials and challenges alone. We must open the door and let him in to hear and comfort us.

 

I am so grateful for the spirit. I have had many spiritual experiences on my mission, but the one that I will always remember is following the prompting of the Holy Ghost. I would like to share it with you. One day my companion and I were having a rough day. Nothing seemed to have gone the way we had hoped. After hours of no one being home, we were lost and didn't know where to go. We got back into the car and just started driving. My companion and I sat in silence. We were feeling discouraged (well, at least I was). I thought to myself that I needed to pray. I  needed to ask my Heavenly Father where He wanted us to go. When I was done praying the thought to go visit our investigator Lindy came to mind. We had only meet with her a few times and she even came to church one Sunday. We had been trying to set up appointments with her, but we could never get a hold of her and she was never home. I fought with the spirit. I didn't want to waste anymore time going up to her house knowing that she wouldn't be there. The spirit got stronger and said that we needed to go see her. Finally, I followed the prompting. We got to her house. There was a car in the driveway. My companion and I looked at each other with a surprised look. We quickly discussed what we were going to teach her, said a prayer and off we went. We rang the door bell. No answer. We knocked on the door. No answer. "This couldn't be" I thought to myself. We even tried calling her. No answer. I wasn't about to give up. There was a reason why I felt prompted to be there. I had this strong feeling to knock again. This time Lindy answered. Lindy's face lit up as she saw us there. We were able to share with her the Book of Mormon. That night as we were teaching her part of the Plan of Salvation, the spirit was there. It was so strong and she could feel it too. We were an answer to her prayers and she was super excited to read the Book of Mormon. I will never forget that night and the way that I feel. The spirit is so precious. It is so important for us to always be worthy to have the spirit with us. The spirit will guide and directs us. He will also protect us and help us to feel of Heavenly Fathers love!

 

I know that my time is coming to an end, but I will never stop being a missionary. I love this gospel so much and I want to be able to continue to share the blessings with the people that I love so dearly. Even though I am getting "transferred" to a new area, I know that there are people that I can still touch. My faith has grown so much and I trust in God with all my heart. I am forever grateful for the opportunity of serving the Lord and I will never forget the many things that I have learned.

 

I love all of you! Again I am so grateful for you and all that you do for me! I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving week. Big Hugs

 

Love, Sister Ackley

November 18, 2013

November 18

Hello my family and friends! I hope that you are all doing well this day and that you are happy and enjoying life! Thanks for all your emails. I say this all the time, but it really is great to hear from everyone.

 

This week has been a good week. We are still talking to lots of people. Sister Denney finally got her bike, so we have been riding the bikes. I love riding the bikes. You get to places quicker, but you don't contact has much as you would on a bus. So what we have decided to do is ride our bikes during the day and ride the buses at night. That way we still can  contact people. We do contact on our bikes too, but you drive right through people just like you would in a car. Sometimes riding bikes is good because people will look at us sisters with a weird look and we will stop at share with them who we are and why we are out on bikes. It is pretty fun!

 

Tracy is a new investigator who we picked up last week. She walked into church last Sunday. She was curious to know what was going on and who we were. She stayed for RS and for Sacrament meeting. She loved it and said that she would come back again. We also had a RS activity last Thursday and she brought her 12 year old daughter. They both had a really good time. Tracy came again this past Sunday. She, however, could only stay for RS. We are going to have dinner with her and her daughter tonight with our ward mission leader and his family. Sister Long and Tracy have connected really well. It will be a fun night. Tracy has a lot of questions and we hope to be able to answer her questions. She loves the ward and is always saying how warm and welcoming everyone is. We pray and hope that everything will go well tonight and that Tracy and Coco (they are Chinese, but speak really good English) will want to take the missionary lessons.

 

We also gave a tour this past week with two Chinese high school kids. They are seniors and have been helping out the Chinese missionaries with their English class. They are doing this because they like it and plus it will look good on their applications for College. The tour went super well and the spirit was there. One of the boys, Victor asked a lot of good questions and you could tell that he was feeling the spirit. When we were in the Chapel it was so peaceful and quiet. Victor said that he could feel something and that he felt so much peace. He felt like he needed to whisper. It was really cool to see that and to hear that from him. We explained that what he was feeling was the Holy Ghost and than explained the role of the spirit. I haven't given a tour in a very long time, but this one was probably one of the best ones and it is all because the spirit was there and leading the way.

 

These few simple things have taught me a lot this past week. I have learned that it is important to always prepare yourself to have the spirit with you. If you take the time to study and prepare for the needs of others. If you do this then you don't need to worry. The spirit will fill your mind with the things that you need to share. This is what happened with me. I know that with out the spirit there is no way I could do this great and marvelous work. I know that God has created a plan for all of his children and I am here to prepare myself so that I can find those people that only I can touch. I am grateful for all of the spiritual experiences that I have been given and I am so grateful for what I will learn as I finish my mission strong. I love this gospel so much and I am so happy to he the Lord's missionary.

 

I love you all so much! Have a wonderful week!

 

Love Sister Ackley

November 12, 2013

November 12

Hey there everyone! Don't worry I haven't forgotten about you. Yesterday all the libraries were closed, so we couldn't email. Yesterday was a really good day. We decided to go to China Town with a lot of the other missionaries and that was a lot of fun. I have never been to China Town my whole mission and thought that it would be fun to go once before I have to leave. It was so crowed and there was a lot of stuff. It was a little too much for me. I have found out that I really can't be in big crowds with lots of noise now. It gives me a little anxiety. I am sure that will go away over time. I had lots of fun seeing the other Sisters there and some of the Elders from my past district. I am surely going to miss everyone that I have met. The closer I am getting to coming home, the sadder it is. I have loved every min of this mission and wouldn't change it for anything. I hope that you boys (Jeremy and Tyson) will want to come and serve a mission. It really is the best thing you can ever do. You will never be happier than serving a mission. Seeing peoples lives change is so great and to know that you have been a part of that too.

 

I was asked to speak in sacrament on Sunday and they wanted me to talk about the highlights and the challenges of my mission and how the gospel has blessed my life as a missionary. At first I struggled to find the words to share with them. I have had a lot of highlights and a lot of challenges. I would like to share some of my thoughts with you as well. One of the greatest highlights that I have had on the mission is teaching families. Heavenly Father loves all of us so much that we has blessed us with families and wants us all to return to live with him again as families. Being able to see families from the beginning to the end is quite an amazing sight. The amount of love that I feel for each on of them and those I come in contact with, there are no words that can even begin to describe that feeling. I can honestly say that I have been able to see more clearer how our Heavenly Father sees them and how I continue to see them. There is no greater sight then that. I have had an experience where I was teaching a family, and some of you may recall me sharing this with you, but I was teaching a family for a long time and I got really close to them. I had a perfect vision for them. I wanted to see them get sealed in the temple for time and all eternity. However, my vision was not God's vision for them at that time. The family told me how grateful they were for us and all that we had done for them and with out us they would of never went back to church. They as still going to the Presbyterian church and has far as I know they are happy. I know that my time with them was not wasted and that they have been changed just a little bit with the spirit that we brought into there home. This was one of my greatest and challenging times. It was hard for me at first, but I know that the Lord will bless them and that they will one day come to know this true gospel.

 

Another experience that I have had was in my last area. We taught Gloria. She found the missionaries and wanted to change her life around and wanted to be better for her son. She came a long way and the spirit testified to her about the truthfulness of our message. In one of the lessons we had with her I stopped and asked her what was one of the blessings she has seen in her life? She said with a big smile one her face that she has never been happier and never wants to go back to her old self. She felt her Heavenly Fathers love for her. They were so many challenges to get her baptized. Somebody did not want to see her baptize, but all went well and she was able to be baptized. The reason why I share this experience it was also a highlight and a challenge. Satan is trying his hardest to stop people from doing great things. It is super important to not let him discourage us and to keep going. We need to remember to pray. Pray to overcome his temptation.  When times get tough  our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ will also be there to help us and comfort us. I am grateful for the wonderful experiences that I have had.

 

I know that my prayers are answered and that my Father in Heaven is aware of me and aware of all of His children here on the earth. He wants us all to be happy and to have the great blessings from him. Heavenly has shown his love by sending Christ down to atone for our sins and to be there for us when we fall short. I am grateful to have this gospel in my life and I am grateful to be here on a mission to share with people this great message about Jesus Christ and to help them have a remission of their sins and to receive the holy ghost. I am grateful for the spirit and know that with out the spirit this work would be impossible. I know that as we continue to b e the best person we can, the Lord will truly be there for us and give us the comfort and strength that we need.

 

I hope that you all have a wonderful week. I love you all so much and wish nothing, but the best for you. Big Hugs!!

 

Love, Sister Ackley

November 4, 2013

November 4

Hello everyone!

 

First off I would like to wish Steven a happy birthday!! I can't believe you are 16 years old today! You are growing up to be such a stud! I hope that today is the best and that you have a wonderful birthday. Remember I love you and will be thinking about you on this special day.

 

It is a cold day here in Cali. It looks like it might rain today, which I am so happy about. I love when it rains here. The weather is cooling down, but the days are still pretty warm.

 

To be completely honest here, this week has been extremely long. I feel like the first week of a new transfer is always long especially when you don't know the area or don't know the people. We have been riding the bus a lot in this area. We don't ever really use our bikes. We do a lot of walking though that's for sure. I am getting use to the bus and have been having fun contacting people on the bus. I was talking to this one lady and she said that she has been wanting more religion in her life and said that she reads the bible all the time and that it means so much to her. She gave us her number and we gave her our number as well. She was really sweet and I think that it made her day for someone to talk to her. Just yesterday we met a Jewish man on the bus and he saw that we were missionaries and said that he was a missionary for his church as well. We talked to him a little bit about his church and what he does as a missionary. He says that he has traveled the world and that he plays music for the people that come into the church to worship and to pray to God. It was cool to hear some of the things that he does as a missionary. Riding the bus is giving us more opportunities to share what we believe. There are so many curious people out there and the Lord is surely preparing people to receive this great message. We haven't found anyone in our own area from riding the bus, but it is all the same work and we are still sharing what the Lord would want these people to hear.

 

I want to share with you all something that I learned in my studies this week. I was reading in Alma chapter 26. This is where the faithful are strengthened by the Lord and are given knowledge by faith. The verses that stuck out to me were v 2. We are asked what great blessings has the Lord bestowed upon us and if we can tell. I really liked this because sometimes in life we have get caught up with the world that we forget the blessings that the Lord has given us. It got me thinking of the blessing that I  have received from being a member. I have so many things to be grateful for and I know that every one of them has come from the Lord. V 12. "I am nothing as to my strength I am weak therefore I will not boast of myself,  but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things." I love love this verse. I know that I am nothing, but because of what my Savior has done from me, I can overcome my weakness and that I can become strong. I know that if I put the Lord first and trust in him that I will be able to do all things. This week I have been able to experience this and I know that I have been made strong. I know that when I fall short that the I have someone there that will make up the difference for him. I don't know what I would do if I didn't have the atonement in my life. I feel so happy and so at peace when I place my burdens and trials on the Savior. I know that this gospel is true and I know that this is what we need to have in our lives to be able to be happy and to be with our Heavenly Father again! I hope that each one of you can feel your Saviors love as well and that you will be able to place your burdens on him and that you will be able to have that peace in your hearts.

 

I love you all so much and miss you a lot. I cannot wait to see you all really soon. I hope you have a wonderful week.

 

Love, Sister Ackley

October 28, 2013

October 28

Dear family and friends, 

It is so fun to read all of your emails and to hear what is going on. Well I got transferred again! I am now in Temple City where I will finish my mission. To be honest, I have mixed feelings about being transferred. I liked where I was at and was starting to have a lot of success. I loved my companion and we got a long so well. I am going to miss her a lot and miss everyone in that ward too. I am excited though to see what new adventures await me here in Temple City. My new companion is Sister Denney and she has been out for about six months now. 

The highlight of our week was teaching the Gray family. This family is a referral from our Bishop. Bishop Wilcox has been working with this family for a very long time and has invited them to take the lessons and have asked if the missionaries could stop by and every time they have said no thank you. A couple of weeks ago we stopped by Bishops house to see how he was doing and he said "I want you to meet a family that I have been working with." We met with them on Friday and had an amazing lesson with them. I feel instantly in love with this family and want to see them get baptized and to become an eternal family. I wish I could describe the feeling that was there. As we shared the message of the Restoration and how much their Heavenly Father loves them the spirit filled the room and testified to them that what we were saying was true. Heavenly Father does love this family so much and I know that He wants them to have the blessings of this gospel in their lives. I know that Heavenly Father knows exactly what they have been going through in their lives and knows the best thing for them. As I was bearing my testimony to them That Heavenly Father loves them so much, I knew that it wasn't me speaking to them. I know that they felt the spirit and they agreed to take the lessons from us. I love them so much and I am so sad that I won't be able to continue to teach them, but I do know that it isn't about who teaches as long as the spirit is there testifying to them. Bishop was emotional after the lesson and said that he was really impressed how we presented the lesson and how much love that we shared with this dear family. I hope that this family will continue to learn from the missionaries and that they will want to be baptized.

As I was teaching this lesson, I think I learned more about my Heavenly Father and Savior that I didn't realize before. I know that Christ died for us, but the love that I feel from him and from Heavenly Father has grown even more. I know that we are not alone and that no matter what we are going through in our lives they are always there for us and that we are never left alone. Heavenly Father knows us individual and wants nothing more than to help us and to have us feel loved. I love being able to help people feel of that great love that Heavenly Father has for them. I am so glad to be a missionary for the Lord and that I am able to grow from the experience that I have with others. This gospel is TRUE!!

Love Sister Ackley

Pictures: Sister Knight(who would send you pictures of me and sis onekawa), Sister George is going home! My other favorite sister missionary, Sister Onekawa and my last picture being companions. :(

October 21, 2013

October 21

Hello there my dear family and friends, 

Things are going great here in Cali. The weather is great and still warm. I am grateful for all of your emails and for the love that comes with them. I love hearing what is going on in good old Utah.

I am doing well and I am happy! Sister Onekawa and I are doing super well and we are starting to see our area pick up. A cool thing that happened to us last week was that we felt prompted to stop by our Bishop's house to see if there was anything that we could do for him. He said thanks for asking, but was doing well. He then started giving us names of people that we could by and see. As he was talking with us he stopped and said that he wanted to introduced us to his neighbor that he had been working with. It was about 8:30pm by this time. We went down with Bishop and we got to see the family. Bishop asked if it would be alright if we could come back and meet with them. Jeremy is his name said yes we would love that. After we left Bishop told us that that was the first time he had ever said yes to his invites. What a miracle that was. We have an appointment with them this Friday and hope to start teaching their family. That was an answer to my prayers. I have been praying that we would find someone new to teach and have been praying for a family as well. I hope all goes well with this family and that they are open to listening to us teach about the restored gospel and how it can bless their families. 

We had this past weekend and it was great! I loved it and I was super glad that we were able to attend the Adult session on Saturday night.This is the first time that missionaries were able to attend it. I was so happy to hear that and I am glad that we went because it was super good. I just wanted to share with you some insights that I got out of it. I really liked how they talked about the Atonement. And that we are all special to God and that we should never forget that. Also that no matter what we have done in our lives, God never leaves us and never looks down upon us. He still loves us the same. This meant a lot to me and I thought a lot about the many people out there in the world who think that because they have done something bad that God doesn't love them anymore. I want to so badly share with everyone what I have learned and that God loves each one of us, no matter what we have done. God looks at the good and not the bad and wants all of us to feel loved. I love the Atonement and I know that people need this in their life and if they have the atonement they can feel that every lasting love and know that they can have a remission of their sins. I loves this gospel and I know that it is true.

God loves us so much that He sent His only begotten son to atone for us and to help us when we need to feel that love and comfort that we are seeking for. I love the question "What does the Atonement mean to you?" To me the atonement means that I am never alone and that someone knows what I am going through and that I can get through anything because of my Savior Jesus Christ. I am forever grateful to know that my older brother went before me because He love me and loved our Heavenly Father. I can't explain so much in words, but I can feel my Savior's love everyday and I know that I am never forgotten or alone. I love this gospel so much and I love being able to share it to the world. Nothing makes me more happier than doing this work and marvelous work of our Heavenly Father!

I love you all. Have a wonderful week!!

Love Sister Ackley

pictures: Sisters, Staker, Onekaw, me, and Lallis. Elders Smith and Johnson. We are all serve in the same ward! We are all a bunch of fun!

October 16, 2013

October 16

Dear Family and Friends, 

How are you all? Mom, that picture that you sent is beautiful! I can't believe how red the tree is. Aw, I miss the fall leaves. It is weird to me that you all are in the cold and it is still in the 80's here in Cali. The nights are differently cooling down though. The weather actually has been really nice. We had our first rainstorm last week. It was so cool and the rain came pouring down that's for sure. I loved every min of it though. I have been wanting rain since last year. haha :)

Today is our P-day. Guess what? We got to go to the temple this morning!! Yay, I LOVE LOVE the temple. I learn so many new things every time I go. Being in the temple today meant so much to me and to feel the love and comfort from my Father in Heaven. Whenever I am there I feel so much closer to Him and to my Savior. I love it and if you all haven't been to the temple in a while, you should go as soon as you can! I promise that you will receive that inspiration and love and comfort that you are seeking for.

Not to be a downer, but I wanted to share with you what happened this past week in our mission. If you haven't heard already, there was an Elder that got hit by a car in this mission. And he passed away. He had only been out 4 weeks. We had a memorial service for him as a mission on Sunday. It was amazing. His companion gave his eulogy and it was beautiful. He told us that the Elder that passed away, his dad passed away just a couple of years earlier and when he was set apart as a missionary his Stake President told him that that was one of the reasons that his dad has passed away, so that he would be able and that be his purpose, to teach everyone about the Plan of Salvation. 

That's exactly what he did. He gave us all a greater understanding. He made it so that us missionaries could teach it with more love and spirit.. He is from North Carolina. We taped the whole service so that His mom and his 3 sisters would be able to see it. 

I know that this plan is real. We taught an investigator this week and she found out about this and was really sad about it and just kept saying sorry to us. We told her that it was alright and the wonderful thing about God's plan  is that we are able to see our loved ones again and that yeah it is sad, but we know that they are in a better place. And that it is only because of our Savior Jesus Christ and what he did for us that made it possible for us to be with our families forever. Then we bore testimony of the plan of salvation. It is hard to describe in words, but the spirit filled that room and touched our investigator. It was amazing to see the spirit testify. The spirit touched all of us. It was so touching. 

I know that because of our Savior Jesus Christ we are able to be cleansed from our sins and return to live with our Father in Heaven and that we can be with our families forever. I know that we mean so much to Him and He wants nothing more than for us to be happy with our families. I am so grateful for my family and for all the things that I have learned from them and the love that we show to each other. I know that the home is the best place for us to learn this wonderful gospel. I know that this is true!!

I love you all and hope you have another great week!! BIG HUGS!!

Love Sister Ackley

October 7, 2013

October 7

Hello my dear family and friends, 

I can't believe that it is SNOWING already. That is so crazy. It seems like winter wants to come early this year. Do you think that we will get a lot of snow again this year? I miss the snow and getting excited to be able to see the snow too. I am glad that you all have had wonderful weeks and to hear that you enjoyed conference. Mom, don't you worry that is the only time you will have to be alone while the boys and dad leave for priesthood. You and I will have do something fun the next time! I bet you liked the quiet though. 

Conference was so great and I really enjoyed seeing and hearing from Adrian Ochoa. That surprised me and I told my companion in excitement that he was my neighbor. She thought that was cool. He did a very good job. I didn't really have a favorite because they were all so good. One talk did stick out to me though. That was the one from Ulisses Soares. I think he was a 70. He talked about how we can become meek and someways to do that is 1)improving day by day. Doing the best that you can and to help others improve with you. Also he talked about how we need to control our tempers and ask ourselves how do I react to people when something doesn't go my way? 2) Become humble. We are more teachable when we are humble. We can also feel our Heavenly Father's love for us. When we become humble we know that weaknesses aren't bad and that with the Lord's help He can make us stronger. This reminds me of the scripture in Alma 26:12 when it says that we are weak, but with the Lord's strength we can do all things. I love it and it is so true. I think a lot of times we forget that and when we are weak, Satan makes us feel that we can't do anything. This isn't true. We have a savior who died for us so that when we are weak and fall short we can be made strong. I have seen this so much while being a the mission. It truly is amazing to see my weaknesses turned into strengths.

I also liked the many talks that said "Look and Believe...Be not afraid, only believe." I just love conference and I feel so good and uplifted every time. I learn so much and I always want to become better as a person and a missionary. I know that this is the one and only true gospel and that the words that were spoken came from our Heavenly Father and they are to help each of us progress in the gospel, progress as a family, a progress personally. I know that the Holy Ghost is real and that He is there to always teach us and protect us. I know that we have a Heavenly Father who loves each of us and knows us personally. We are all so special to Him and wants nothing more than for us to be happy. I love the gospel so much and so grateful to be a member.

I love you all so much and I hope that you have a wonderful and eventful week. Big hugs from me.

Love, Sister Ackley

PICTURES: Giant Ice-Cream Cookies. :) yummy!!,  Sister Onekawa and I, Sisters Onekawa and Lallis found the Elders suit jackets and were having fun!

September 30, 2013-16 Months!!

September 30

Dearest family and friends, 

Can you believe it? 16 months already. Time has flown by so fast. It hasn't really hit me til now, but I only have two months left. I have been so blessed to be out here on a mission and to serve the Lord. It has been the greatest thing that I could have done. 

This week has been a bit of a challenge. We were mainly focused on our investigator Gloria who got baptized on Sat. What an incredible baptism that was. There was so much opposition. I have not ever seen this with anyone. Gloria has been amazing and has been keeping the commandments especially the word of wisdom. There have been a lot of things that has happened to her and she will get overwhelmed and will want to smoke, but then she remembers that instead she should go and read her scriptures. She says that after she does this she feels so much better and can feel the love from her Heavenly Father. When she was suppose to be interview there were so many other that came up that tried to stop her from being interviewed like, her baby got really sick and she had to take him to the doctors, President Gutierrez was on his way to meet us and a random pipe flew out of nowhere on the freeway and hit him. It has been crazy. Someone did not want this baptism to go through. We were finally able to get everything done that needed to be done on time and Gloria was able to be baptized on her schedule date!! It has been a rough road for Gloria, but she made it and she stayed positive throughout it all. She even said that "this must be where I need to be right now, if all this opposition is happening to me." It so is true. Satan is going to fight back just as hard because he doesn't want her to have the joy and happiness that this gospel has already brought to her life. She is so amazing and such a special daughter of God. This is where she needs to be and she is so happy and is grateful for the decision that she made to follow the path of Jesus Christ. The baptism was so an incredible experience and the spirit was there testifying again to her that she made the right choice and she will continue to see the blessing that this gospel will bring to her. 

I know that this is the true gospel. I know that this is the only way that we can have true joy and happiness. I know that I have a Heavenly Father who loves me and loves each of His children. He wants us all to be happy and to enjoy all the blessing that He is waiting to give to each of us. I know that we are never forgotten and that the things that we go through are for our own benefits and will mold us to be the person that we are suppose to be. I am so grateful for prayer. I know that prayer is real and that Heavenly Father hears and answers prayers. Again I am forever grateful my Savior and for his atoning sacrifice. Without the atonement God's plan would not work and we wouldn't be able to make it back to our Heavenly Father. I love this gospel!

I hope you all have a wonderful week. I love you and miss you all!!

Love, Sister Ackley

P.S. Pictures: Gloria and us at her baptism, Sis. Onekawa and me, and us with our BIG SMILES

September 23, 2013

September 23

Hello family and friends, I hope that you are doing well and staying safe. Thanks for the emails. They always make my day to hear from you all. 

I am doing well and liking my new area. I love my companion, Sister Onekawa. She is great and is a hard worker. She loves being out here on a mission and knows her purpose as a missionary as well. We are now officially on bikes and I am loving every min of it too. I had to get different bike then the one that I had before. The boy bike was just so big for a short little girl:) and so the office got me a girl bike that I am using until I go home. It is so much better and I love riding it. I am being safe too. It is a little scary to ride it on the roads, but I am getting use to it. I have survived my first week riding a bike. God definitely has been blessing us because the weather has been a lot cooler this past week and should be cool again this next week. The days are going a lot faster and we don't get as much appointments in because of the travel time, but things are still working out great for us. 

We have a baptism this Sat. Her name is Gloria. She is so awesome. She was a Referral and is wanting to change her life around. She is doing awesome and is coming a long quite well. It is so fun to be able to see this great change in her and to see her so happy. We were talking about blessings the other day and I asked her how she has seen the blessings in her life and she said that she is just HAPPY and she can't stop smiling. She also said that she never wants to go back to the person that she was before. That is what is so great about this gospel is that it can change you for the better. She knows and has experienced that. She is doing great and I cannot wait for her special day. She has been such a joy to teach and to hear her testimony of how much this gospel has changed her life. She has a two year old boy and hopes that when he turns 18 he will want to go on a mission and do the things that we do as missionaries. She is truly converted to this gospel and is going to make a great member.

She pretty much is the highlight of our week. We have been working with her a lot this week to help her stay strong til her baptism day. Satan is a real bugger and has been trying to knock her down, but we had the elders over to give her a blessing and it was amazing to me to see the sudden change in her as they gave her that priesthood blessing. She said that she felt so much better after that too. I wish you all could experience some of the same things I do. It just isn't the same in words. The spirit was so strong there and it was just so amazing to see the power of it and to change her right there and then. I love the priesthood and I know that through priesthood blessings we can be healed and we can have that comfort and peace of mind to be able to move forward with the challenges that we face. 

There is a great scripture that I read. It is D&C 122:7-9. I love these verses because it talks about the hard times of life and that they are here for our own good and the we need to learn from the things that we are going through in life. On the side I wrote. Everything happens for a reason and it it is for the best of us. In vs. 9 I really like how it says that we shouldn't fear because the Lord is always there for us and will never leave us alone. Another thought that came to my mind as I was reading this is that the Lord never gives us more than we can handle. These trials and challenges that we are faced with are here to mold us to be the person who God wants us to be. I am so grateful for the trials that I am faced with daily. I am grateful for the lessons that I am suppose to learn as well. I know that My Heavenly Father loves me and is always there for me. I know that he hears and answers every one of my prayers. I know this because of the peace and comfort that I get from the Holy Ghost. I love this gospel and I love sharing what I know is true to those who are ready to hear it. 

I love you all so much and I hope that you have a wonderful week. 

Love Sister Ackley

September 16, 2013

September 16

Hello dear family and friends, I am glad that you are doing well and staying safe with all of the rain storms. It is crazy to think of how much rain you have been getting. I wish California would get some rain. It is hot here and and we don't ever get any rain. To be honest, I miss the rain. 

This week has been kind of an off week for us. We have had so many things happen this week, that I feel like we didn't get much time to do missionary work. Tuesday we moved into a new home and that took a big chuck out of our day. Wednesday we had a sisters conference and that was an all-day thing. It was really good though. Thursday, we had district meeting and found out that we were loosing our car sooner than we thought. Friday, we had to clean our car and did weekly planning, Saturday we took the car in and had to wait for our ride. Busy. Lots of things going on and lots of preparation for loosing our cars. It is going to be a huge adjustment, but I am excited about it and looking forward to finding lots of new people. Also we have had a lot of appointments this week, but they all feel through because the flu has been going around and everyone has been getting sick. Not fun and I hope that I don't catch this flu bug. That would not be fun. 

On top of all this, I got transferred again. I am now in the Walnut Creek Ward. This will probably be my last area before I go home. My companion is Sister Onekawa. She is from New Zealand. She is awesome. She has only been out for six weeks so i will be finishing her training. Also I am still a sister Trainer!!! YAY. Sister Mattingley is already training. I can't believe it. She is going to be awesome. I am super sad that I am not her companion anymore. We got a long so well. It has been a hard change, but I can do it. I am staying happy and positive with this new change. It will be an adjustment, but the Lord knows what he is doing.

I have learned a lot this past week. I have learned how important it is to stay close to the Lord and to always have the spirit with you. Satan tries really hard to knock you down. I am so grateful for prayer and for the peace and comfort that I am able to feel. I know that it is only through prayer that we can feel and ease with everything that we are going through. I know that our Heavenly Father loves and knows each of us and knows exactly what we need as we prayer to him. I am grateful for all the many blessings in my life and for this time that I have to be a missionary and to share this great message to people. I know this gospel is true!!

I love you all and hope that you have a great week. 

love always sister Ackley

September 9, 2013

September 9

Dearest family and friends, 

I hope that you have had a wonderful week. That is crazy of all the rain that you got this past week. I am so jealous. We have been baking in this heat!!! It has been super humid and HOT HOT HOT. It was been over a 100 degrees for the past couple of weeks. I don't remember it being this hot last summer. We haven't lost our cars yet, but transfers are next Monday and we will find out on Saturday what is happening. I hope that it starts to cool down though because it is just so hot to be riding in the heat, but I guess I have no room to complain. Their are missionaries in other places that are living in worse conditions than me. I am grateful to be where I am in California. We are however moving this week to another members home. We have been living with a member that is from a different ward and since we will be loosing our cars we will need to be in our own area. 

Alex got baptized Yesterday!!! Alex was my investigator in Rowland Heights. I am was so happy when I heard this great news and he had asked me to talk about baptism. I was so honored that he would ask me. He is so amazing and looked like a new person last night. He was full of light and just could not stop smiling the whole time. The spirit was so strong and I know that He could feel it. He got up to bear his testimony and it was so special to hear it and to see his testimony grow from day one! I give all the credit to God for this change that Alex made. He was changed because the Holy Ghost testifying to him. I was just the spokes person. I am so proud of Alex and this great change that he has made! :) Here are pictures of him, Sister Lee, President, and the Elders!

I was able to teach Zone Meeting this past Thursday. When I went to the Leadership Council, President didn't give us a topic to share with our zones. He wanted us to get on our knees and pray for what our zones need. We then talked about the mission loosing the cars and trying to figure out how we are going to make it work. After the meeting I was talking with my Zone Leaders and I felt that we needed to talk about attitude and humility. They also thought that this is what was needed. We just felt that a lot of people are going to have a sour attitude about this big change. I was able to talk about having a good attitude. One of my first questions that I had asked the zone was "Who is excited about this great change?"  I of course said it in the happiest and with a big smile on my face. Everyone just laughed at me. I said that I was being serious and I wanted to know how everyone was feeling. I then expressed that we should be really excited about this because the Lord is hasting His work and we are so lucky to be a part of it. We need to remember whose work this is. This isn't our work. God knows what is best for His children. We need to humble ourselves. I was reading a talk from Marlin K. Jensen "To Walk Humbly with Thy God" He talks about humbling ourselves and becoming as a little child. How we can do this is by a gradual process of our spiritual development which comes by the Holy Ghost  and relying on the Atonement . When we do this we have submitted ourselves to the "will of the Father" I really liked hearing about this because like I mentioned before, this is God's work, not ours. As I was reading this I thought to myself and asking myself a question, "What does the Lord want me to do?" There is no reason why any of us should be having a bad attitude about this change. We aren't here for ourselves. We are here on the Lord's time and He is the one that can see the big picture. Teaching this and hearing everyone's comments helped me to have an even better attitude and more excited for this change. President Becerra shared this with us, "No more cars today means more faith to overcome obstacles in life." I really liked this statement and it is so true. I am going to have to have more faith and really trust that the Lord is preparing those people for Sister Mattingley and me. I love this work. I am so glad that I am able to see the great work progress and to see the wonderful changes that are happening within the church. There is no other place that I would rather be then right now in the California Arcadia Mission. This gospel is true!!

September 2, 2013

September 2

Good morning! I hope you are all having a wonder Labor day. What exciting plans do you all have today? I am excited to hear all about your first weeks of school and the adventures that you all are having. Jeremy you should send me pics of your new car. That is exciting for you. Steve I am excited for you to be driving. I can already see your excitement. 

Can you believe that it is already September? August went by super fast. I don't even know where the time went. We have been so busy that the time is just flying by. We have had a lot happen this week. It has been a good week and a stressful week as well. For me being a Sister Trainer I had to go on an Emergency Exchange to help a companionship of Sisters. It was a hard thing to do and to help them in a way that was best for them. They haven't been getting along and things weren't getting done, so President told me as a Sister Trainer I am suppose to go and fix it, so that is exactly what I did. They have had a miracle since I have been with them and honestly I don't think that they would have had success if they didn't talk things out like I had told them they needed to do. I prayed for the spirit to be with me the entire time and it is truly amazing to me to see the hand of the Lord in my responsibility as a leader. It wasn't me who helped them. I was just there to support them and give them that guidance that the Holy Ghost needed them to hear. It is amazing to see what happens when you follow the Holy Ghost. I learned so much from this experience and how important it is to really have the spirit with you and to be sensitive to the promptings that you receive because God knows what each person needs and what specific words they need to hear.  I love being a Sister Trainer and to be a great help to them.

We had Zone Conference and guess what we just found out? We are loosing ALL of our cars!!! This means that we will all be on bikes, walking, and taking public transportation. My dream is coming true! I get to end my mission on a bike! I am super excited and I cannot wait. Don't worry I won't have to purchase a bike. There is an Elder that is leaving in two weeks and is going to leave me his bike and Sister Mattingley is going to get buy on because she will need it for the rest of her mission. I am really excited can't you all tell?! hehe. My companion is super excited as well which makes it even better. It was funny because the Zone leaders were saying how they wish that everyone else in the zone was as excited as me and to have a good attitude about this great change that will be happening. My thing is, is that it is all about your attitude and if you have a good attitude about things then great things will come! Plus I don't like having a bad attitude it just makes the work and the days so much longer. ;) Be Happy is what I tell myself and my companions.

We taught Seth again this week. It was a little frustrating this time. There just is so much distraction in that home and he really isn't getting the support that he should from his mother. She does want him to be baptized, but I don't think she herself fully understands the true meaning of baptism and coming to church. They have only been to church once since we have been teaching them. It is very important that he comes to church a total of three times before baptism. We have been praying and praying for this family. We care so much for them and want the very best for them. We need to help them fully understand that doctrine behind church attendance and baptism. We need the whole family to sit in on the lessons. They would all benefit from hearing what the Holy Ghost has to tell them. I love this family so much and I want nothing more to see them happy and progress in this gospel and to see them receive the promise blessings from coming and living the gospel. 

We also taught Sister Dow this past week too. We feel that she just doesn't understand what the true meaning of baptism is and what the Priesthood is. We feel that if she knew that what baptism really is that she wouldn't want to wait and that it wouldn't matter if she waited. She has felt and knows that she needs to be baptized, but there is still something that is holding her back. I don't that it is much of her husband anymore. We need to help her feel and recognize the spirit and to help her know that what she is feeling is the truth. She really needs to be reading and praying to get this confirmation for herself. I know that once she does she will want to make that change because it is what the Lord wants her to do. I want to see this family be a forever family and I am going to continue to pray for them and to know how we can best help them progress.

I have learned so much from this past week. My faith once again has grown as I have seen the miracles and the blessing of the Lord. I know that God is aware of each of us. He is always with us and will never leave our sides. He wants to help us so much, but the only way that He can is for us to open that door of communication first. I know that when we pray, He hears and answers our prayers and He will bless us and give us the comfort, peace, and strength that we need to continue out strong. I was able to get a Priesthood Blessing yesterday. It was so powerful and I knew that God was aware of me and He gave me the words that I needed to stay strong and to keep going forward with my faith. I know that He knows everyone that I am working with and by using me, He can help those people to hear what they need too, to have that peace and joy in their life. This gospel is so TRUE and is the answer to all of lifes questions.

Always pray to your Heavenly Father in times of need. He will be there for you! I can promise you that!

I love you all so much and I hope that you have a wonderful week! Til next week!

Love Sister Ackley

August 26, 2013

August 26

Hello Everyone!!

I hope that you have had a wonderful week! It is always good to hear from you and to hear all about your adventures and your week! Brightens my day. 

We had a GREAT week! Lots of good things happened. It felt so good to actually teach people. Sister Mattingley is a great missionary and has the spirit with her as she bears testimony. She knows exactly what to say to those that we are teaching. It has been so much fun to see her grow. We were able to find two new investigators this week. We are teaching Sis. Dow. Her husband is a member, but has been less active for a long time. She has taken the lessons before and knows that she needs to be baptized, but she doesn't want to get baptized until her husband can do it. We had a great first lesson with her and set expectations and shared with her Matt. 7:7. It says that we need to ask, seek, and knock. We talked to her about finding these things out for herself. We don't want her to be doing this because of her husband. We want her to know that this is what she is suppose to be doing and for her to gain a testimony for herself. The spirit was with us that night and it was pretty powerful. She also has been coming to church every Sunday and loves it too. I am excited to be teaching her and to helping her understand the Doctrine of Christ. 

We are also teaching a 9 year old boy. His mom is a member and also has been less active for a little while, but wants to start coming back to church because she misses the peaceful feeling that you have when you are at church. She really wants this same thing for her son. It is so neat to see people want to come back to church after they have been gone for awhile. It is amazing to me to knowing how the spirit feels and then how it feels when the spirit is not with you. I have had many instances where the spirit has left because of a conversation we are having with someone or even because we don't list to the spirit. It is not a good feeling and it makes me super happy to see that Sister Estrada wants to have that sweet spirit back in her life and in her home as well. Seth was so excited for us to come and to teach him. We taught him the Doctrine of Christ with my jenga blocks that I made to help visualize the path that we need to take. I was so surprised. This little boy understood what we were teaching and knew a lot of what he needs to do to be like Christ. I love teaching little kids. They are so ready to hear the gospel and they already have that sweet spirit with them. He will be getting baptized in Sept and we are super excited for him!

We also met a guy at the park. This was a neat experience. So we had a half hour before dinner and we just didn't know what to do so we decided to go to the park and put up flyers for a free Book of Mormon. As we were doing that, we saw a guy walking his cute little niece.  I had this thought come into my mind that we needed to talk to him. We stopped and talked to him and to much of my surprise he was really friendly and open to talk to us. He was telling us about his religion and how he is Christian. He said that he was really proud of us for being out on missions and spreading the good word around. He then told us that he had dated an LDS lady and was meeting with the missionaries. Another thought came into my mind that we needed to invite him to take the missionary lessons again. As we invited he gladly agreed. We got his number and we have something set up with him for tomorrow. It was something that we needed that day. It showed me how precious God's time is. We cannot afford to loose the time that we have to find those people that the Lord has prepared for us. I know that because we didn't waste any of our time and kept working our hardest that we were able to see that blessing from the Lord.

We had a another cool experience this week. Our district leader called us and asked us to pray for an opportunity to shard the Doctrine of Christ and to shard this experience in district meeting. Well we had been praying and seeking for that one great experience and we just couldn't find anyone to teach or everyone that we had planned to share this with would cancel on us. It was a little discouraging, but I fought that off and tried really hard to not loose my faith. It got to be Wednesday night. We only had a few hours left of our day and we still didn't have an experience to share for the next day. I was constantly saying a prayer in my heart. I kept saying please guide to someone who needs this lesson tonight. We only have a few more hours and we need to share an experience. I was so worried that we weren't going to have one for district meeting. Well we had a lesson with one of our recent converts and we had planned to teach him the Doctrine of Christ. I was so amazed at the spirit that was in the home with us. His mom who is a less active and her boyfriend were also present in the lesson with us. It was just amazing to see that this little boy knew so much and knew what he needed to do and to keep doing now that he is baptized. It was a great opportunity for his mom as well and we asked her how the gospel has blessed her life. I wish you could have been there. What happened that night is just so hard to describe in words. I know that this was the experience that we needed to have. It made me think of faith a the faith test that we like to show people. The Lord wants us to have faith in him and wants us to do all that we can and when we feel that we cannot do anymore then he is there to help us. It is like the scripture in Ether 12:6 ..."ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith." I feel that we needed to go through this trial and that God needed to see our faith. I learned so much from this and I know that when we have faith all things are possible. I am so grateful for this experience that I was able to have and It did indeed help my faith be strengthen. I am grateful for the trials that we are given so that we can become stronger. I know that Heavenly Father is aware of what we need and knows what the best things for us are. I love this gospel so much and grateful for the wonderful blessings. 

I hope you have a wonderful week. Love you all!

Sister Ackley

August 19, 2013

August 19

Hello family and friends, 

How is everyone doing? I hope that you all enjoyed your last week of summer. I am glad to hear that Bear Lake was fun and that you all had a fun time. Glad everyone stayed safe.

My week has been good. I am defiantly learning a lot about faith and patients this week. I am trying really hard not to be discouraged and not let my companion down. We haven't been able to find new people to teach yet and this is frustrating. We had a few lessons set up last week and they didn't go well. One of our lessons was suppose to be a pass off lesson and the Elders didn't even teach her anything gospel related. That was a little frustrating, but that's no reason to get upset about. We do however, have a return appointment with her tonight so we are excited about that. We also had an appointment with a part-member family and we called to confirm with them and she said that they were actually on vacation and wouldn't be home til Sunday. We were really bummed about that, but didn't let that bother us. We will be setting up another appointment with them for this week.

We are working with our ward mission leader a lot and he has been giving us some names, so hopefully we will be able to teach them really soon. This ward is really wanting to help us missionaries out. Our plan is to really work with the members this week and try to set up dates of when they can have a non-member in their home. We want them to build a relationship with them before and then when the time is right have us missionaries come in and teach their families. This is the best way that the members can help us with missionary work. 

In my studies this week, I have been studying more about faith and having the faith to find people to teach. I feel like my faith isn't has strong has it could be and that this is effecting our finding. Right now I just feel lost and don't know where to start. I can feel that Satan is working on me really hard and is doing everything that he can to discourage me. I have been doing a lot of praying and asking for the strength that I need to stay strong and keep moving when times get hard. I taught Zone Meeting this past week on this very subject. Not going to lie, this was really hard for me to teach. I was thinking to myself how can I teach my Zone about faith to find when I don't really have the faith myself. I then remembered something that President Becerra has always said. "If you don't believe something then bear your testimony on it." Well that is what I did. It was amazing to me how I felt when I was teaching everyone and how much my faith grew that day. I learned so much and know that if we have a desire and act on that desire than the Lord will bless you. I am going to take what I learned and apply this  in my work this week. I have this great desire to find those people and to find people to teach, now I just need to go out of my way and talk to has many people as I can. I love what I am doing as a missionary. It is hard work and sometimes discouraging at times, but I know that every time I feel like this I know that I can say a prayer and can feel the peace that I need and have the strength that I need to keep going. I know that my Heavenly Father loves me and is proud of the great work that I am doing. I know that anything is possible through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I love my Savior and all that he has done for me. I am happy and I know that I am blessing many lives out here because of my diligence and wanting to do the very best that I know I can be.

I love you all and I hope you have a great week. I am sorry if my emails have not been so exciting lately and so short. I hope you still enjoy them!!

Love Sister Ackley

Pictures: Sister Mattingley and I, Sister Amataga and I riding bikes and some other pictures.