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Saturday, August 3, 2013
7/30/13
Dear Family and Friends,
Sorry not to write an email last week to everyone. Email time was cut short because we went to China town and played volley ball with our zone.
I've really learned and grown a lot this past week. I'm becoming more converted to the gospel of Jesus Christ than ever before. I really feel like I've been stripped of my pride and broken down to nothing and it's a painful process but I love it and I can see that I'm being refined. I can say that I am not the same person I was before my mission. I understand things more deeply now in my heart that I will never deviate from and I am closer to my Savior and my Father in Heaven than I have ever been in my life. I feel like these first few months I've been trying to go at everything 100% with effort and will power but my heart wasn't quite at 100%. I had some experiences this week where I'm at least trying now to put my heart and head into it 100%. I have seen that the only way for this to work is to give my will over to the Lord 100% and I knew that but I was at times at like 99% almost almost there. Now, I'm not trying to say it do it 100% of the time but I am willing and trying and striving and repenting. I have given up every last bit of what I am, what I want and everything so he can make of me what He sees in me not just what I want or who I want to be. He knows better. (The scripture 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 has really come to life for me). The mission is the hardest thing and the easiest thing and I can't even explain it. I think part of it is that we are sons and daughters of Heavenly Father with a divine sense to us so when we understand and see this it's easy. But we still live in a fallen world and when we forget it is hard to fight off the natural man and use our agency to completely follow Jesus Christ. I know I have many weakness but this week I found the source of my greatest weakness and my biggest stumbling block and I am so grateful. I haven't had pure charity all the time. I lack charity. That is where all my weakness and faults come from. I finally figured it out. I know that I'm not always a great listener and I am not always humble and that comes from not having more charity. I will strive harder than ever before to be the Savior's eyes, and hands, and say the things He would say. That is charity. It is loving everyone more than you can imagine, it is caring more about them than yourself, wanting their success and happiness. As soon as we forget this we do something dumb and it makes us unhappy because sin cannot bring happiness. I'm grateful that I've been able to go through difficult things to break me down to nothing so Heavenly Father can build me up the way He sees me. It's not easy but I wouldn't have it any other way. I know this is how to be truly happy.
We saw about a million miracles in the past couple weeks I haven't had time to write about that I'd say are like Ensign worthy (haha) things that you just wouldn't believe but I don't have time to write them all today. Just know that God will always bless the righteous and the way to miracles is to ask in faith and act upon it believing and knowing He will provide a way and then just like that it happens every time.
Sister Lallis and I are working as hard as we can and I think she'll be training in no time. We should have two baptisms in the month of August and I couldn't be more happy for them. I love the people here and the ward. Two girls gave their farewells this week in church and it's crazy that was me not too long ago. They'll be fantastic. One is going to Russia and the other to Chile. Watch out world here comes the Sister missionaries! Transfers are next week but I think I'll be here still. I think I've got something else I need to do (and I'm supposed to speak in church in a few weeks so they can't get rid of me yet haha) and I think that I'll probably finish Sister Lallis' training (which would be this next transfer) then they'll yank me out and have her start training. These are all just assumptions and I could be completely wrong but so far I've been right every transfer.
I feel like there's something else important I needed to write about but I can't remember any more so I guess it can't be too important.
One more thing, dad, Brother Mackay is in the bishopric in my ward and he says hi. He's awesome and he said he went to high school with you and he was the grade below you. He said you were goofy and great growing up. I think his wife may also know you from growing up in CA. Another thing for you dad- there's a fantastic talk called "The Fourth Missionary" by Coorbridge that I highly recommend. It's great for anyone not just missionaries.
I'm grateful for the mercy the Lord has on me and each of us. Never forget he's there and loves you. Remember that when you do what you want you and the Lord both loose. The only way is to win is to loose your will and take His and then you both win. He knows you and loves you better than you can immagine. Trust Him. Trust in him that knows all things. I love you all, have a fantastic week!
Love, Sister Fjeldsted
Sorry not to write an email last week to everyone. Email time was cut short because we went to China town and played volley ball with our zone.
I've really learned and grown a lot this past week. I'm becoming more converted to the gospel of Jesus Christ than ever before. I really feel like I've been stripped of my pride and broken down to nothing and it's a painful process but I love it and I can see that I'm being refined. I can say that I am not the same person I was before my mission. I understand things more deeply now in my heart that I will never deviate from and I am closer to my Savior and my Father in Heaven than I have ever been in my life. I feel like these first few months I've been trying to go at everything 100% with effort and will power but my heart wasn't quite at 100%. I had some experiences this week where I'm at least trying now to put my heart and head into it 100%. I have seen that the only way for this to work is to give my will over to the Lord 100% and I knew that but I was at times at like 99% almost almost there. Now, I'm not trying to say it do it 100% of the time but I am willing and trying and striving and repenting. I have given up every last bit of what I am, what I want and everything so he can make of me what He sees in me not just what I want or who I want to be. He knows better. (The scripture 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 has really come to life for me). The mission is the hardest thing and the easiest thing and I can't even explain it. I think part of it is that we are sons and daughters of Heavenly Father with a divine sense to us so when we understand and see this it's easy. But we still live in a fallen world and when we forget it is hard to fight off the natural man and use our agency to completely follow Jesus Christ. I know I have many weakness but this week I found the source of my greatest weakness and my biggest stumbling block and I am so grateful. I haven't had pure charity all the time. I lack charity. That is where all my weakness and faults come from. I finally figured it out. I know that I'm not always a great listener and I am not always humble and that comes from not having more charity. I will strive harder than ever before to be the Savior's eyes, and hands, and say the things He would say. That is charity. It is loving everyone more than you can imagine, it is caring more about them than yourself, wanting their success and happiness. As soon as we forget this we do something dumb and it makes us unhappy because sin cannot bring happiness. I'm grateful that I've been able to go through difficult things to break me down to nothing so Heavenly Father can build me up the way He sees me. It's not easy but I wouldn't have it any other way. I know this is how to be truly happy.
We saw about a million miracles in the past couple weeks I haven't had time to write about that I'd say are like Ensign worthy (haha) things that you just wouldn't believe but I don't have time to write them all today. Just know that God will always bless the righteous and the way to miracles is to ask in faith and act upon it believing and knowing He will provide a way and then just like that it happens every time.
Sister Lallis and I are working as hard as we can and I think she'll be training in no time. We should have two baptisms in the month of August and I couldn't be more happy for them. I love the people here and the ward. Two girls gave their farewells this week in church and it's crazy that was me not too long ago. They'll be fantastic. One is going to Russia and the other to Chile. Watch out world here comes the Sister missionaries! Transfers are next week but I think I'll be here still. I think I've got something else I need to do (and I'm supposed to speak in church in a few weeks so they can't get rid of me yet haha) and I think that I'll probably finish Sister Lallis' training (which would be this next transfer) then they'll yank me out and have her start training. These are all just assumptions and I could be completely wrong but so far I've been right every transfer.
I feel like there's something else important I needed to write about but I can't remember any more so I guess it can't be too important.
One more thing, dad, Brother Mackay is in the bishopric in my ward and he says hi. He's awesome and he said he went to high school with you and he was the grade below you. He said you were goofy and great growing up. I think his wife may also know you from growing up in CA. Another thing for you dad- there's a fantastic talk called "The Fourth Missionary" by Coorbridge that I highly recommend. It's great for anyone not just missionaries.
I'm grateful for the mercy the Lord has on me and each of us. Never forget he's there and loves you. Remember that when you do what you want you and the Lord both loose. The only way is to win is to loose your will and take His and then you both win. He knows you and loves you better than you can immagine. Trust Him. Trust in him that knows all things. I love you all, have a fantastic week!
Love, Sister Fjeldsted
7/15/13
It's been another good week. I've really been tried and tested this week. I've had some difficult things happen but I know that in the end that the message we carry is true and no matter what happens or if things fall through or if it seems like no one here is supporting us and everyone is against us that everything will be for our good. We finally have a progressing investigator and she should have a baptismal date this week! I am so happy! I think that while on my mission here I may not have many baptisms but I think I'm supposed to be here to be an example- to other missionaries, the ward, and the people we teach. That my example will effect others and they may remember my actions, and words, and deeds, that I did what Christ would have me do even if no one else around me was. Personal worthiness, desire, and testimony aren't always correlated with number of baptisms. It can be easy to get down when it seems like you haven't done anything or had any baptisms but some of the best missionaries don't even have any or just a few. I think I'm here to be an example and to be a leader and there may only be a few along the way that will accept this message, but that doesn't mean I'm not doing the right thing. It has really taught me complete trust in the Lord and His timing and that we are to never ever feel entitled to anything. Sometimes in life we work our heads off and nothing happens but we learned a lot along the way and others learned from us and all we can do is repent and move forward. I have also been learning some about Godly sorrow. Every night I pray for my investigators and every morning I study for them hoping and praying that their faith will grow and that I will be a better tool in helping them come unto Christ but sometimes it just doesn't happen. Or at least not right away. This is probably just a tiny bit of what Heavenly Father feels. Sometimes we stray and don't repent and He just aches for us and it was nothing He did wrong. We must always trust Him and trust that even when we're doing all we can and it seems like nothing is working out that He knows us and He is still there and still cares. I have a feeling I'll be in La Canada for quite a while. There's something I need to do, some kind of impact I need to make here and I'm not sure I'll ever know what it is but Heavenly Father does and I trust in Him. Thanks for all of your love, support, and letters. Have a fun week!
Love, Sister Chelsey Fjeldsted
Love, Sister Chelsey Fjeldsted
7/08/13
It has been an interesting week. Last week ended on such a great note but this week things kind of took a turn in the other direction. None of our investigators are progressing anymore. No one has been keeping commitments and no one has come to church. It can be kind of sad, and difficult, and frustrating because here you have the greatest thing in the entire world, something that will help them in every way and they aren't progressing. I think that's how Heavenly Father often feels with us. He wants to bless us but when we forget to say our prayers and forget to read our scriptures we don't qualify for those blessings. He is waiting to bless us but he will never force us just like I can't force other people to do anything. When their faith increases then they will have that desire and want to and do it on their own. Until then all we can do is help them and invite them but it will always be their choice. In our mission we are shooting for a goal of one baptism a month. I've been out almost 4 months and haven't had any. I often wonder what I'm doing wrong and in my prayers I feel so bad saying each night I haven't done it yet but I promise I'm trying so what am I doing wrong what can I change. I know though that people do have their agency and I can always repent for not doing more. I'm actually grateful I started my mission off in this affluent area because later on in my mission I will be able to find more humble people that are willing to repent and seek God in their life and I'll know just what to do! It seems like there's been a bit of a missionary success drought here. There's been one convert baptism in this month for the whole year. That's not good at all. I need to step it up and do something about it. For anyone reading this if it's on my blog, it isn't just about converting people and baptizing people or anything like that. It's about inviting people to come unto Christ by making covenants with God to change their lives and grow closer to Him and this happens through the gates of baptism. If we are serious about following him we will follow His example and be baptized just as he was by proper authority by immersion the exact same way. There are so many blessings we receive when we are baptized and we have the influence of the Holy Ghost/ Holy Spirit so much stronger in our life. And THAT'S why it's so important. (3 Nephi 11 and 2 Nephi 31). It is part of Christ's doctrine: faith, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, enduring to the end. I've been thinking about my purpose here and as a missionary and I haven't been doing such a great job at finding people who are willing to be baptized but I know I have made a good influence in the live's of others through the gifts Heavenly Father has blessed me with to bless His other children through me. (sorry, the syntax on that sentence was awful, but you get the point). I think something I may need to do while I'm here is help the leadership of the wards, help other missionaries, help the mission president, help my investigators and prepare these investigators for some future missionary. And I'm willing to take that sacrifice. If I go my whole mission without a baptism I will feel bad for not bringing others into God's fold but I won't have a thing to regret because I've done all I can do and I always tried to live my purpose at all times by always inviting others to come unto Christ. I'm grateful that I've been compelled to be humble. I get frustrated sometimes that other's aren't humble and won't listen to the message and then I remember that I am guilty of pride and all sorts of other things. I am far from perfect. On my mission I've also been compelled to have charity. And I'm grateful for that as well. I'm not really sure what happens next in the work. We need to find new investigators and help the ward see that they need to get involved in the work and I know that's what I need to do right now. I'm grateful for the Lord answering prayers and for the power of the Holy Ghost in my life. I should be discouraged and disappointed but I'm not. I know that Heavenly Father is always there and that we should always rejoice, through thick and thin we have every reason to be happy because Christ lives and loves us.
I love you all and I'm so grateful for all of your love and support and emails. Thanks for all of your prayers and for thinking about me. Give Christian a hug for me when you get home.
I haven't heard from you yet Christian but there isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about you. I love you and look up to you so much. Let me know if there's ever anything I can do for you.
When you get home would you send me a ward program so I can get the addresses of other missionaries from our ward serving? Thank you.
Also, I met Brett Mackay this week. He's in my ward and he's a year younger than dad and went to highschool with him. He says to tell you hi dad. I think that's it for connections this week. Oh, and his wife grew up here and knew you too. And a lady named Clo Ross or something knows Paul and Courtney.
I love you all, have a wonderful week and a great summer.
Love, Sister Chelsey
I love you all and I'm so grateful for all of your love and support and emails. Thanks for all of your prayers and for thinking about me. Give Christian a hug for me when you get home.
I haven't heard from you yet Christian but there isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about you. I love you and look up to you so much. Let me know if there's ever anything I can do for you.
When you get home would you send me a ward program so I can get the addresses of other missionaries from our ward serving? Thank you.
Also, I met Brett Mackay this week. He's in my ward and he's a year younger than dad and went to highschool with him. He says to tell you hi dad. I think that's it for connections this week. Oh, and his wife grew up here and knew you too. And a lady named Clo Ross or something knows Paul and Courtney.
I love you all, have a wonderful week and a great summer.
Love, Sister Chelsey
7/01/13
This week has been another wonderful week. I've really had my faith tested, tried, and seen it grown. It was weird having sister Fleming leave because she is one of my very best friends and I look up to her so much. We had some amazing times together on the mission. It was so weird that she went home because all of a sudden it seemed like half of me was gone. I really missed her for the first couple days but I knew that I couldn't do that because the work is about others not our best friend companions and if I missed her than that meant I was getting distracted. So I made my self get over as fast a I could. I got my new companion Tuesday night and it was the strangest thing in the whole entire world because one minute I'm being trained by a sister trainer (like a zone leader for the sisters) and she's in the last transfer of her mission and then the next minute it's all been handed over to me. I'm in charge of the area. I know where it is and what's going on and I have to lead the way. I hardly even felt like I knew the area since I'd only been there one transfer (6 weeks) at that point so I was just like, well this is going to be interesting. I have been blessed with such a sweet and patient companion though. Her name is Sister Lallis (like Dallas) and she is from West Jordan, UT. There are 6 kids in her family and she's the youngest. All her older siblings are married and she has like 17 nieces and nephews! All of those things make her really sweet and kind and innocent so it's good for me to learn to be more kind and gentle. In some ways though I feel like there isn't much we have in common so sometimes we're pretty quiet. She's born and raised in UT, the youngest, has tons of family that lives within an hour driving of her, she's never been to college (she graduated in 2010 then worked at deseret book for three years) and I just don't really know how to connect with her sometimes. I'm so glad she chose to serve a mission though. That's a brave thing to do if you've been born and raised in UT your whole life and you don't know anything else. She hasn't really seen anything out of UT before (she went to Nauvoo like once when she was 12) so it's a totally different world to her. It's weird for her to think that people here aren't Mormon and that people can be mean to us. I think it would be really hard to be thrown into California like that especially if you've never been here before. I think rejection is a little hard on her when we tract and other things but I can see that she will grow into a great leader when she gets past the culture shock. She is very gentle and kind and helpful which I know I need to work on. I sometimes pride myself a bit in being thick skinned, go get 'em, let's do this, very resilient when people reject us but I see know that I could also be a little more sensitive at times and understanding and loving. This is something I need to learn. Since I've had to lead the area and train I have been very assertive, and a strong leader but almost too much sometimes. I know I need to repent and back off a little bit and try not to come on so strong.
Anyways, this week was great. I have really come to love the people and work this week more than I ever have in the past, ever. I love love love the people I teach and the members of the ward and I don't want to go home. I want to stay here and teach people and help them learn about Christ and feel the spirit. I honestly have the greatest job in the world. The beginning of this week was actually a little rough and quite slow. I felt bad bringing a new sister into an area that didn't have a whole lot going on the first few days. We taught hardly any lessons, got doors slammed in our faces, had a huge heat wave here without AC and to be honest I actually was doing great! But I could see that my new companion was struggling a little bit. That would be kind of hard to be thrown into. She would say things like, I just don't get it, why don't they want to listen to us or how come no one cares. I need to learn to not just be like whatever they'll get a second chance, God is merciful so other missionaries will find them. Eventually that's what I need to get to but I realize it's okay to feel that Godly sorrow initially that they turned down this great thing and do all that I can to invite them to partake of this gospel. The last couple days here though things turned around completely. I've been reading in Jacob 5 out of the Book of Mormon- the allegory of the Olive Tree- and I can really relate to it in a lot of ways in the area I serve. "And it came to pass that the servant said unto his master: How comest thou hither to plant this tree, or this branch of the tree? For behold, it was the poorest spot in all the land of thy vineyard. And the Lord of the vineyard said unto him: Counsel me not; I knew that it was a poor spot of ground; wherefore, I said unto thee, I have nourished it this long time, and thou beholdest that it hath brought forth much fruit." I felt that same way all of last transfer. Why am I in La Canada? What am I supposed to do here if no one will listen to me? What in the world am I doing wrong. Why am I in what seems "the poorest spot in all the land (mission) of thy vineyard"? Sister Fleming and I never once found anyone new to teach the 1st 2nd or 3rd discussion. We met some nice people, taught other lessons, but never any of the discussions. And at times it did get discouraging not to see real growth in our area. But this last Saturday and Sunday we've taught both the Restoration and the Plan of Salvation to 3 different people and 3 new investigators. This was the Lord saying "Counsel me not; I knew that it was a poor spot of ground; wherefore, I said unto thee, I have nourished it this long time, and thou beholdest that it hath brought forth much fruit." We now have 9 investigators. And 4 potential/ almost investigators. Sister Fleming and I had almost none last transfer and we're only at the end of the first week of this transfer. The work really is hastening and miracles happen each day.
The people that we teach are miracles in my life and inspire me. They are truly why I'm here. I pray for them all the time, I love them, I love teaching them and being with them. This week we taught Idita and Livija the restoration. They are from Lithuania and some of my favorite people in the entire world. They're sisters and they are about in their 60s and they are a hoot! If they had their own show I'd watch it every day they are so funny. When we met Idita for the first time she was like well I have my own church no thanks I'm not interested but we invited them to do family history work at the church and they came! Then Sister Fleming and I made a few visits to them and got to know them better. Then when Sister Lallis came I said it's time to teach them. It's now or never. So we did and taught the restoration to them. It went from not wanting anything to do with our faith to them saying they would read and pray about The Book of Mormon. Miracles happen everyday if we ask for them, earnestly pray for them and desire them, and then work so hard that they will come to pass. They're a blessing and miracle in my life. I love them so much.
Then there's Patty Anderson. She is a miracle in my life. She is such a tender woman. The Minnesota lady I've written about. She also was very much, I'm into my own church but I love the Bible and to pray and I'll talk about God with you. So Sister Fleming and I did. But then when Sister Lallis came it was go time. We taught her the Plan of Salvation and the spirit was so strong. It was one of the best lessons I've ever been in. We brought a member of the ward, Sister Frandsen who is just wonderful and amazing and lo and behold, they knew each other and she didn't even realize it before! The spirit was there and she really opened up to us about her concerns, her relationship with Christ, her hopes her fears, her struggles, where she wants to be and everything. Sister Frandsen was wonderful to have with us she shared many great scriptures and things from her heart that helped her. She also agreed to read over what we taught and pray about it. This is the same woman who a couple weeks ago made us take back The Book of Mormon we "forgot" at her house and didn't really want anything to do with our doctrine. It was an incredible lesson.
Christ is very merciful to put us in leadership positions when we are not qualified. I'm so not qualified to be a trainer. I've been out 12 weeks, am a year younger than the minimum age used to be, younger than my new companion and only in the area for 6 weeks. I don't know anything. Haha! But I had felt since the first week I was with Sister Fleming that I would be training since she would be going home and I got to be trained by a sister that was leaving at the end of the transfer. So I took it seriously at least. The first day though it scared me to death to think that I would lead the area and be the one who has to take charge and start lessons, and tell people they need to repent, and teach them doctrine when they said they didn't want to hear it, and figure out what we should do each day, until the new sister got the hang of things. And now none of that scares me. I know that I'm still not qualified and I have much to learn and many weakness and things I need to repent of from last week that I could have done much better but I KNOW that I'm not alone and that the Lord is leading the work. I just need to listen better, act more, and do what I came here to do.
I'm so grateful for Sister Fleming and the example she set to me of humility and kindness and patience. Everything we went through last transfer set the stage for this one and she was so selfless to put in all her heart when she wouldn't even get to see the results or the people grow. She did a lot more than she'll know or see.
I'm grateful for my new companion and she has taught me so much about kindness and gentleness. I have much to learn from her. She is also very pure and sweet which I could also work on.
I love the people here and I love my job. I have the best job in the whole world and I don't want to leave this area or the people. I don't want to go home. The Lord is so merciful to allow me all these experiences and to have blessed me with miracles each day. I know I need to do so much better and step it up.
I love you all and I'm so grateful for all your examples.
Remember that it may seem that God asks hard things of you. But if you're thinking that then maybe it's because you're trying to do it on your own and taking it all upon yourself. Because in that sense, you can't do it, not alone. But when you come to Christ and do what He has asked because He love you and work with Him in His name it doesn't seem so hard anymore. He'll help you, but you have to humble yourself and ask and repent and accept His love in your life. Don't try to got at life alone. You won't get anywhere. "When I am weak then I am strong."
Have a great week, I love you all.
Anyways, this week was great. I have really come to love the people and work this week more than I ever have in the past, ever. I love love love the people I teach and the members of the ward and I don't want to go home. I want to stay here and teach people and help them learn about Christ and feel the spirit. I honestly have the greatest job in the world. The beginning of this week was actually a little rough and quite slow. I felt bad bringing a new sister into an area that didn't have a whole lot going on the first few days. We taught hardly any lessons, got doors slammed in our faces, had a huge heat wave here without AC and to be honest I actually was doing great! But I could see that my new companion was struggling a little bit. That would be kind of hard to be thrown into. She would say things like, I just don't get it, why don't they want to listen to us or how come no one cares. I need to learn to not just be like whatever they'll get a second chance, God is merciful so other missionaries will find them. Eventually that's what I need to get to but I realize it's okay to feel that Godly sorrow initially that they turned down this great thing and do all that I can to invite them to partake of this gospel. The last couple days here though things turned around completely. I've been reading in Jacob 5 out of the Book of Mormon- the allegory of the Olive Tree- and I can really relate to it in a lot of ways in the area I serve. "And it came to pass that the servant said unto his master: How comest thou hither to plant this tree, or this branch of the tree? For behold, it was the poorest spot in all the land of thy vineyard. And the Lord of the vineyard said unto him: Counsel me not; I knew that it was a poor spot of ground; wherefore, I said unto thee, I have nourished it this long time, and thou beholdest that it hath brought forth much fruit." I felt that same way all of last transfer. Why am I in La Canada? What am I supposed to do here if no one will listen to me? What in the world am I doing wrong. Why am I in what seems "the poorest spot in all the land (mission) of thy vineyard"? Sister Fleming and I never once found anyone new to teach the 1st 2nd or 3rd discussion. We met some nice people, taught other lessons, but never any of the discussions. And at times it did get discouraging not to see real growth in our area. But this last Saturday and Sunday we've taught both the Restoration and the Plan of Salvation to 3 different people and 3 new investigators. This was the Lord saying "Counsel me not; I knew that it was a poor spot of ground; wherefore, I said unto thee, I have nourished it this long time, and thou beholdest that it hath brought forth much fruit." We now have 9 investigators. And 4 potential/ almost investigators. Sister Fleming and I had almost none last transfer and we're only at the end of the first week of this transfer. The work really is hastening and miracles happen each day.
The people that we teach are miracles in my life and inspire me. They are truly why I'm here. I pray for them all the time, I love them, I love teaching them and being with them. This week we taught Idita and Livija the restoration. They are from Lithuania and some of my favorite people in the entire world. They're sisters and they are about in their 60s and they are a hoot! If they had their own show I'd watch it every day they are so funny. When we met Idita for the first time she was like well I have my own church no thanks I'm not interested but we invited them to do family history work at the church and they came! Then Sister Fleming and I made a few visits to them and got to know them better. Then when Sister Lallis came I said it's time to teach them. It's now or never. So we did and taught the restoration to them. It went from not wanting anything to do with our faith to them saying they would read and pray about The Book of Mormon. Miracles happen everyday if we ask for them, earnestly pray for them and desire them, and then work so hard that they will come to pass. They're a blessing and miracle in my life. I love them so much.
Then there's Patty Anderson. She is a miracle in my life. She is such a tender woman. The Minnesota lady I've written about. She also was very much, I'm into my own church but I love the Bible and to pray and I'll talk about God with you. So Sister Fleming and I did. But then when Sister Lallis came it was go time. We taught her the Plan of Salvation and the spirit was so strong. It was one of the best lessons I've ever been in. We brought a member of the ward, Sister Frandsen who is just wonderful and amazing and lo and behold, they knew each other and she didn't even realize it before! The spirit was there and she really opened up to us about her concerns, her relationship with Christ, her hopes her fears, her struggles, where she wants to be and everything. Sister Frandsen was wonderful to have with us she shared many great scriptures and things from her heart that helped her. She also agreed to read over what we taught and pray about it. This is the same woman who a couple weeks ago made us take back The Book of Mormon we "forgot" at her house and didn't really want anything to do with our doctrine. It was an incredible lesson.
Christ is very merciful to put us in leadership positions when we are not qualified. I'm so not qualified to be a trainer. I've been out 12 weeks, am a year younger than the minimum age used to be, younger than my new companion and only in the area for 6 weeks. I don't know anything. Haha! But I had felt since the first week I was with Sister Fleming that I would be training since she would be going home and I got to be trained by a sister that was leaving at the end of the transfer. So I took it seriously at least. The first day though it scared me to death to think that I would lead the area and be the one who has to take charge and start lessons, and tell people they need to repent, and teach them doctrine when they said they didn't want to hear it, and figure out what we should do each day, until the new sister got the hang of things. And now none of that scares me. I know that I'm still not qualified and I have much to learn and many weakness and things I need to repent of from last week that I could have done much better but I KNOW that I'm not alone and that the Lord is leading the work. I just need to listen better, act more, and do what I came here to do.
I'm so grateful for Sister Fleming and the example she set to me of humility and kindness and patience. Everything we went through last transfer set the stage for this one and she was so selfless to put in all her heart when she wouldn't even get to see the results or the people grow. She did a lot more than she'll know or see.
I'm grateful for my new companion and she has taught me so much about kindness and gentleness. I have much to learn from her. She is also very pure and sweet which I could also work on.
I love the people here and I love my job. I have the best job in the whole world and I don't want to leave this area or the people. I don't want to go home. The Lord is so merciful to allow me all these experiences and to have blessed me with miracles each day. I know I need to do so much better and step it up.
I love you all and I'm so grateful for all your examples.
Remember that it may seem that God asks hard things of you. But if you're thinking that then maybe it's because you're trying to do it on your own and taking it all upon yourself. Because in that sense, you can't do it, not alone. But when you come to Christ and do what He has asked because He love you and work with Him in His name it doesn't seem so hard anymore. He'll help you, but you have to humble yourself and ask and repent and accept His love in your life. Don't try to got at life alone. You won't get anywhere. "When I am weak then I am strong."
Have a great week, I love you all.
Alma 5:50
Love, Sister Fjeldsted
Love, Sister Fjeldsted
Monday, June 24, 2013
6/24/13
Dear Friends and Family,
Well it's been a crazy, busy, great week. I just dropped off my companion at the mission office this morning :( sister Fleming is all done with her mission. I can't believe it. What else is funny is that until I get my new companion I will be with Sister Baum until she gets her new companion as well. So I'm with my last companion today in the last area I served in, in the same library I used to write from and we were both trained by Sister Fleming.
So as far as news goes. The reason I don't have a companion is because I'm training.... Yep. The Lord is very patient to make me a trainer. I just finished my own training and now here I go. I've only been in the area for one transfer and I don't know the area as well as I should and I know I have many inadequacies so this will definitely be a time of patience, and learning, and growing. I had a feeling from day one that I was with Sister Fleming that I would be training so I've been paying close attention to all she does and tried to learn and remember all I could. so far I'm two for two with predicting transfers, we'll see if I get the next one right! haha. I'm grateful for this opportunity I will have to train. It's sad when you see other missionaries that are disobedient or gossipy or don't seem to care much or other things like that and I'm grateful to be with a new companion so we can work together to not be any of those things and not bring any disobedience into the mission. I've been noticing my weaknesses a lot lately which isn't always fun but it's good for us all to strive to do better and be more repentant. The gospel of Jesus Christ (faith, repentance, baptism/ sacrament, endure to the end) is the key to life but we have to actually DO it which means continually repenting and looking to the ward for strength.
No baptisms or investigators with baptismal dates to report. At times I get frustrated with myself that I haven't had any yet but I have to remember that I can always do better and that everyone still has their agency and that I can always repent and move forward/ do better. There has been a bit of a drought lately it seems as far as teaching and baptizing go in this area but I have great hope, faith, and renewed determination and drive to get working harder and live and teach my purpose better (the gospel of Jesus Christ). The work will move forward here and we will baptize. It will be wonderful. It's happening I just need to get my act together better and live and breathe and teach and love the gospel of Jesus Christ at all times.
If you didn't watch the general Leadership Broadcast this past Sunday do it. Watch it by yourself, with your families, whatever you can do. Every member of the church should watch it and pay attention to the promptings they get and then get up and do them right away without delay. We need your help! I love you all. Have a wonderful week.
Love, Sister Chelsey Fjeldsted
6/17/13
Dear Family and Friends,
This week was great. I had some pretty low points where I was very very discouraged at the begining of the week but my attitude has turned around completely. We had two exchanges this week (Sister Fleming is a sister trainer- which is like a sister zone leader) so she has to go on exchanges with all the sisters in the zone and help them. The fist was in our area and I was with sister Fogavai. She is from American Samoa and she is absolutely wonderful. She told me about her and her family's conversion to the church. I learned a lot from her and really enjoyed serving with her. She's been out for about a year so she had lots of great advice for me. The second was awesome as well. I was with sister Harker. Her and sister Fleming and a few other are like the legand sisters in the area. I think it's silly that people in the mission put some missionaries above others in the way they talk but i'm just saying it how it is. Either way, she really is amazing. She reminds me of what I'll probaly be like by the end of my mission: assertive, loving, bold, kind. Kind of like Grandma Ann. Most of the time I don't feel very confident since I've just been out 12 weeks and haven't even finished my training yet so I'm not quite assertive or bold yet much of the time but there are circumstances where I am. It's amazing to be someone who's confident not because of who they are in a cocky sense but because they know who they are- diciples of Christ, children of God- and He will not let us be confounded before men so we have no reason to fear. She's still humble though which is amazing and something I need to work on. I figured out one huge thing I need to learn at this part of my mission: patience. There's in overriding theme that comes up in everything I do. Everything is taking FOREVER and I get really frustrated really easily. The work is moving slowly, our investigators are moving slowly, everything seems to be slow and I'm trying so hard to do EVERYTHING I can and asking for the Lord's help. I need to learn to be patient with members, investigators, everyone and remember that people have their agency. Heavenly Father is so patient with me each day and always so it isn't fair for me to be impatient with others. I also need to learn to be more patient with myself. Patience defined in Christ like attributes in Preach My Gospel (chaper 6) is described so well. Patience means waiting without getting frustrated or discouraged because we love them. It's not supposed to be endure to the end and grin and bear it the whole way but rather endure to the end and love every part of this human exsistance both the good times and the difficult times.
I saw lots of miracles this week. There were probably more miracles at the begining of my mission but my eyes weren't open to it as much. On Saturday when I was with sister Harker we taught a lesson to an investigator in their area whom I've never met in my life and our fellowship was a couple that was previously mission presidents. No pressure. And I've only been out for 12 weeks. And the sister I'm teaching with (sister harker) is on the last week of her mission. Awesome. I actually wasn't too nervous but I was just kind of thinking, well I sure hope I don't mess this one up. We tried to teach him the plan of salvation starting with the pre-exsistance and it was a bit of a struggle because he was Cathloic and doesn't believe in that. We talked a lot about the Holy Ghost and Gift of the Holy Ghost and how it testifies of truth and how he needs to read and pray about the Book of Mormon to receive a witness from the Holy Ghost before he will know. Then talked about the plan of salvation. It went okay but not fantastic. Sister Harker made a coment about something that rememinded of something I should tell him but then sister Collins spoke so I didn't then what she said made me think of something else. Then before I know it her husband cuts in and says I know these things are true and basically closed the discussion. But I still had so much left to say! Then the investigator said thanks to each of us and when he got to me he said thanks for being here even though it wasn't my area and I was just here for the day and thanks for my testimony and I basically said you're welcome it was great to be here but I have one more thing to say. I shared my personal testimony of the atonement and different points of it that came clear to me at different times in my life and was able to explain how it helped me better understand the plan of salvation, how it all fit together, and how I have been able to understand over time greater through the power of the Holy Ghost and that he can too. He just looked straight at me and I couldn't tell what he was thinking, if he was like what she's crazy or wow that's awesome and when I was done he was just like stunned and said plainly, How did you know? How did you know that was exactly everything I needed to hear and what I was wondering about and that what you said put everything together for me? It was an amazing experience. Sometimes it takes the weak things of this world to just be the ones that are like I have no idea what I'm doing and I'm unexperienced so please help me to know what to say Heavenly Father. Another blessing of being new is that I'm not stuck in usual teaching patterens or ways of teaching the same all the time so I can let the spirit work more fully and to be able to talk with people not to people and teach people not lessons which is something I always need to work on. Anther cool thing that happened that day was that Sister Harker and I contacted some former and potential investigators who were in her area I was in for the day (Temple City). It was a Hispanic family and they were so nice. She and I were able to use our Spanish again which was a blessing that I could remember it. They were so nice and when we left we asked if we could say a prayer. We asked the 20 year old son if he would but he said he'd never prayed before so we taught him how and he did! He prayed for the first time with us. It was wonderful. Another cool miracle- we've been meeting with a lady name Patty and she's from MN! We had a great visit with her last night. She's not exactly interested in the church yet but we talked about families and how we can be with our families forever. We then realized that she's from a broken family so sister Fleming was promted to say that Heavenly Father will also take care of those with broken families and everything will work out. She began to cry and out of the kindness of her heart said that I hope you two young ladies find wonderful young men someday to marry. It was very sweet. She has a grown daughter probably in her 30s and mentioned that she's not married and wants to be with someone but is having a hard time with dating and such so she asked us to pray for her- that was last week- and so we did in our closing prayer before we left. She told us yesterday- a week later- that her daughter later called her and said that last Sunday at like 8:30pm (the exact time we met with her and prayed for her) she found a guy! Nothing serious yet but he is interested in her and they've been talking and went on a date or something. We also found out that she knows a memeber in our ward. So we're going to bring her next week as fellowship and teach her the plan of salvation. I'm really excited. It's funny because numbers (key indicators- like lessons taught, etc.) don't mean anything if there isn't real growth taking place. We've seen so many miracles lately and have many great things ahead that can't be put into those key indicators. This transfer has been a bit rough as far as finding and teaching. We haven't taught a single first discussion to a new investigator once this transfer if that paints a picture for you and the very few investigators we do have are slowly progressing but we've been making greater efforts to work harder and ask for the Lord's help. I have great hope and I think there are great things instore these next few months. I also have a feeling I'll be here for a long long time. I think there's something I need to do here and much to learn and people to find. There's great work to be done. I love the Lord and I am so grateful to be serving him. I have finally come to the point that I don't want to be home I really really don't. I want to be here. Not that I haven't always but I just really don't want to come home. It's a blessing how our attitude changes when we better internalize our purpose and are here for the people and to do the Lord's work. I am so blessed.
One last awesome thing to share for dad. There's an awesome Korean family in the ward and they had us over and fed us tonkatsu and korean beef! My favorite foods! I hope someday to serve in a Korean branch here. That would be my dream come true. I love Koreans.
Have a great week everyone and I wonderful vacation. I love you all. You're in my prayers. Let me know what I can do for all of you.
This week was great. I had some pretty low points where I was very very discouraged at the begining of the week but my attitude has turned around completely. We had two exchanges this week (Sister Fleming is a sister trainer- which is like a sister zone leader) so she has to go on exchanges with all the sisters in the zone and help them. The fist was in our area and I was with sister Fogavai. She is from American Samoa and she is absolutely wonderful. She told me about her and her family's conversion to the church. I learned a lot from her and really enjoyed serving with her. She's been out for about a year so she had lots of great advice for me. The second was awesome as well. I was with sister Harker. Her and sister Fleming and a few other are like the legand sisters in the area. I think it's silly that people in the mission put some missionaries above others in the way they talk but i'm just saying it how it is. Either way, she really is amazing. She reminds me of what I'll probaly be like by the end of my mission: assertive, loving, bold, kind. Kind of like Grandma Ann. Most of the time I don't feel very confident since I've just been out 12 weeks and haven't even finished my training yet so I'm not quite assertive or bold yet much of the time but there are circumstances where I am. It's amazing to be someone who's confident not because of who they are in a cocky sense but because they know who they are- diciples of Christ, children of God- and He will not let us be confounded before men so we have no reason to fear. She's still humble though which is amazing and something I need to work on. I figured out one huge thing I need to learn at this part of my mission: patience. There's in overriding theme that comes up in everything I do. Everything is taking FOREVER and I get really frustrated really easily. The work is moving slowly, our investigators are moving slowly, everything seems to be slow and I'm trying so hard to do EVERYTHING I can and asking for the Lord's help. I need to learn to be patient with members, investigators, everyone and remember that people have their agency. Heavenly Father is so patient with me each day and always so it isn't fair for me to be impatient with others. I also need to learn to be more patient with myself. Patience defined in Christ like attributes in Preach My Gospel (chaper 6) is described so well. Patience means waiting without getting frustrated or discouraged because we love them. It's not supposed to be endure to the end and grin and bear it the whole way but rather endure to the end and love every part of this human exsistance both the good times and the difficult times.
I saw lots of miracles this week. There were probably more miracles at the begining of my mission but my eyes weren't open to it as much. On Saturday when I was with sister Harker we taught a lesson to an investigator in their area whom I've never met in my life and our fellowship was a couple that was previously mission presidents. No pressure. And I've only been out for 12 weeks. And the sister I'm teaching with (sister harker) is on the last week of her mission. Awesome. I actually wasn't too nervous but I was just kind of thinking, well I sure hope I don't mess this one up. We tried to teach him the plan of salvation starting with the pre-exsistance and it was a bit of a struggle because he was Cathloic and doesn't believe in that. We talked a lot about the Holy Ghost and Gift of the Holy Ghost and how it testifies of truth and how he needs to read and pray about the Book of Mormon to receive a witness from the Holy Ghost before he will know. Then talked about the plan of salvation. It went okay but not fantastic. Sister Harker made a coment about something that rememinded of something I should tell him but then sister Collins spoke so I didn't then what she said made me think of something else. Then before I know it her husband cuts in and says I know these things are true and basically closed the discussion. But I still had so much left to say! Then the investigator said thanks to each of us and when he got to me he said thanks for being here even though it wasn't my area and I was just here for the day and thanks for my testimony and I basically said you're welcome it was great to be here but I have one more thing to say. I shared my personal testimony of the atonement and different points of it that came clear to me at different times in my life and was able to explain how it helped me better understand the plan of salvation, how it all fit together, and how I have been able to understand over time greater through the power of the Holy Ghost and that he can too. He just looked straight at me and I couldn't tell what he was thinking, if he was like what she's crazy or wow that's awesome and when I was done he was just like stunned and said plainly, How did you know? How did you know that was exactly everything I needed to hear and what I was wondering about and that what you said put everything together for me? It was an amazing experience. Sometimes it takes the weak things of this world to just be the ones that are like I have no idea what I'm doing and I'm unexperienced so please help me to know what to say Heavenly Father. Another blessing of being new is that I'm not stuck in usual teaching patterens or ways of teaching the same all the time so I can let the spirit work more fully and to be able to talk with people not to people and teach people not lessons which is something I always need to work on. Anther cool thing that happened that day was that Sister Harker and I contacted some former and potential investigators who were in her area I was in for the day (Temple City). It was a Hispanic family and they were so nice. She and I were able to use our Spanish again which was a blessing that I could remember it. They were so nice and when we left we asked if we could say a prayer. We asked the 20 year old son if he would but he said he'd never prayed before so we taught him how and he did! He prayed for the first time with us. It was wonderful. Another cool miracle- we've been meeting with a lady name Patty and she's from MN! We had a great visit with her last night. She's not exactly interested in the church yet but we talked about families and how we can be with our families forever. We then realized that she's from a broken family so sister Fleming was promted to say that Heavenly Father will also take care of those with broken families and everything will work out. She began to cry and out of the kindness of her heart said that I hope you two young ladies find wonderful young men someday to marry. It was very sweet. She has a grown daughter probably in her 30s and mentioned that she's not married and wants to be with someone but is having a hard time with dating and such so she asked us to pray for her- that was last week- and so we did in our closing prayer before we left. She told us yesterday- a week later- that her daughter later called her and said that last Sunday at like 8:30pm (the exact time we met with her and prayed for her) she found a guy! Nothing serious yet but he is interested in her and they've been talking and went on a date or something. We also found out that she knows a memeber in our ward. So we're going to bring her next week as fellowship and teach her the plan of salvation. I'm really excited. It's funny because numbers (key indicators- like lessons taught, etc.) don't mean anything if there isn't real growth taking place. We've seen so many miracles lately and have many great things ahead that can't be put into those key indicators. This transfer has been a bit rough as far as finding and teaching. We haven't taught a single first discussion to a new investigator once this transfer if that paints a picture for you and the very few investigators we do have are slowly progressing but we've been making greater efforts to work harder and ask for the Lord's help. I have great hope and I think there are great things instore these next few months. I also have a feeling I'll be here for a long long time. I think there's something I need to do here and much to learn and people to find. There's great work to be done. I love the Lord and I am so grateful to be serving him. I have finally come to the point that I don't want to be home I really really don't. I want to be here. Not that I haven't always but I just really don't want to come home. It's a blessing how our attitude changes when we better internalize our purpose and are here for the people and to do the Lord's work. I am so blessed.
One last awesome thing to share for dad. There's an awesome Korean family in the ward and they had us over and fed us tonkatsu and korean beef! My favorite foods! I hope someday to serve in a Korean branch here. That would be my dream come true. I love Koreans.
Have a great week everyone and I wonderful vacation. I love you all. You're in my prayers. Let me know what I can do for all of you.
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