Snow and other good stuff!

SNOW!                                                                                              11-17-14

Hey Everybody! I hope you are all doing great!                 

This was a great week for Elder Rapp and me, we got a ton of good work done. It was great!

Last Monday: We went to the Midland 2nd sisters' apartment complex's clubhouse and we played pool, 

ping pong, and Catch Phrase. While we were there, Quan Porter, the black guy who Elder Hess and I used 

to see everywhere walked in, so I invited him to hang out with us. ha. He goes to the Pentecostal church 

and he invited us to come to church and that will be significant when I tell you about yesterday. :) Just a little hint 

WOW! hah.

Tuesday: We had a super heavy lesson with the Shocknesse's. There was a concern that was brought to the 

attention of the bishop, so he had Bro. Jones go with us to ask Karolyn about it. So, Bro. Jones just asked her 

and then she really opened up to us. It was really intense and emotional. We gave her a blessing of comfort and 

it was also really powerful, Bro. Jones gave it. We just left there, and man, The Spirit was so strong in there! I 

was sick today with a fever and that made it pretty hard to go and knock doors since I was freezing and then we 

got into one of the houses and I got super sweaty and then was even colder, but I made it through. :) We had 

BFD at the Jenkins house for dinner. It was awesome. They have 5 kids all about 10 and younger. They are the 

coolest family. We had a good time over there. We had the kids tell us ways we can do missionary work, and 

they were all killing themselves to get there arm high enough for us to call on them. :) hah. They rock. 

Wednesday: We had District Meeting. It was on the Book of Mormon. It was really great. We also taught Ben 

today. Other than that we knocked a lot of doors and met a couple of really cool people. We met a guy named 

Doug who had met with missionaries before so I could tell he was trying to bate us into a bash, but we ended up 

having a really nice conversation. It was really cool. He asked, "Am I saved?" And it went from there. ha. Then 

we had dinner at the Cormiers. That was great as usual. I love them. They are struggling right now, but they are 

staying strong in their faith, which is great to see. 

Thursday: Today we had to do weekly planning, and I would have to say that weekly planning is my biggest 

struggle in missionary work. It's just so long and I have such a hard time getting through it. We also taught Dale 

Fultz, who is a less-active member who was baptized about a year ago. We had a really cool lesson with him, on 

doing the "small and simple things." We committed him to do the small and simple things. He said he would read 

and pray but that he has back problems and doesn't know about church. Then we made him a promise that if he 

would commit to church his back wouldn't bother him and he would enjoy it. Then he said, "OK, I will come." It 

was really cool.  And he did come! :) We had dinner at the Bowman's which was great, they are spiritual giants. 

Then we went out to John's with Bro. Place. It was just John, so we read 2 Nephi 31 with him. We just took turns 

reading one verse each and discussing. It was really awesome how much we all learned. 

Friday: Today we taught Helen and we were in her humidity room since we couldn't be inside, since we couldn't 

get anyone to come with us and we accidentally didn't fully unlock the door, so it locked us out. We locked an 

85-year-old lady outside of her house. I was able to climb inside a window though and save the day. :) hah. 

When we left Helen's, it was snowing, A LOT! It was nuts. Then we met with Joe and had a potential who moved 

in across the street from him, so we called Joe and asked him to teach with us. The guy ended up shining us, 

but Joe had gotten all dressed up and was super excited to get to teach with us. It was so cool to see Joe so 

excited. Then we met with Bro. Sovereen. After that we taught a guy named AC. He's an ex-military guy and is a

little crazy. When we walked into his apartment, he had a pistol hanging on his bedstand. And I said, "you were 

right, you are packing." hah. It was funny. He was hard to keep focused, so the lesson was alright. He said he 

will read the BOM though...

Saturday: Today we helped fill the font for Valorie Padgette, the sister's investigators baptism. Then we went 

and raked leaves for a potential we met on Friday. She is a single mom and is an OB nurse! It was a ton of fun. 

Her 4 year old son was out with his little rake helping us out. It was adorable. :) She was really appreciative and 

we are going to teach her next week. Then we had Val's baptism which was great. Then we went with Bro & Sis 

Joneses to teach the Shocknesse's. It was a great lesson. They are both really prepared for next week. Then we 

met a girl named Jessica who we knocked in to yesterday, who is looking for a church, so we got to know her 

better, she is really cool. Then we had dinner at the Marcou's. It was great. Jan asked us a really cool question. 

She asked is the Mormon religion started with the Book of Mormon. That took me a while to explain and figure 

out, but we got to the bottom of it. :)

Sunday: It was a great Sabbath. A girl in the ward played "I Love to See the Temple" on the piano in sacrament, 

it was beautiful. We had the Shocknesse's at church and Dale and Sister Bethea were also there. It was great. 

We also got to show the Shocknesse's the font, which was cool. They are excited. :) After church we knocked 

and met a few potentials then we had open faced tacos at the Herzog's, which were delicious. Then we went 

to the Pentacostal Temple. Holy Cow. They are just partying in there. They were singing songs and dancing, 

one of the songs was called "My God is Awesome." It was great. They would go around putting their hands on 

each other's heads and praying and "healing" each other. People were running around. The pastor's sermon 

included him "healing" a few people of their fibromyalgia. It was just insane. I never knew that you could call 

that church. All I can say is WOW....

I don't have very much more time but my quick spiritual thought of the week has to do with prayer, which we 

talked about in Gospel Principles. It was really good. All I can say is to try and make your prayers more personal 

and meaningful. Remember that you are conversing with your Heavenly Father and he is there to help you, you 

just need to ask. The power of prayer is real and is there to help you. 

I love you all!

Love,

Elder Chalmers

me and Joe

Going to church in the snow

5 MONTHS A MISSIONARY!                                                          11-10-14

Hey Everybody! So we got some new mission rules... Our e-mailing time is now only 90 min. Which you should 

all be thankful for because now you won't have to read my WAY too long e-mails. :) 

Some cool things that happened this week:

-I went on Trade-offs to Midland 1st ward with Elder Nielsen. We were without a car and it was raining so that 

caused for a lot of walking. We knocked into a member and he was doing this 3D puzzle so we helped with that. 

It was really cool. 
-We did service for a less-active lady who we home teach with Bro. Lindauer named, Sister Bethea. We pulled 

weeds for her, it was really fun. 
-We went to teach the Cormiers on Wednesday night. And Curt is a black belt so he was showing us his system 

of fighting. So if any of you ever try and grab my collar, you will be in deep trouble. :) We also shared Alma 26:27

and D&C 122:7-9 which talk about how God is always with us and will support us through our trials. Then we 

took Emma for a walk and when we got back Curt said, "I was praying to the Lord this morning for something, 

and your message answered it for me." It was really cool.
-We met with Helen and we were talking about Adam & Eve with her. She just couldn't understand that Adam & 

Eve had to partake of the fruit. It was frustrating. I just wanted to give her the biz and show her Isaiah 55:8-9! 

She is going to read 2 Nephi 2 and pray about it so that should help out. 

Some of our knocking adventures this week: Yesterday we met this guy named John, who is from Kentucky. He 

was hilarious! He was a textbook redneck. We helped him move some stuff and we swapped info with him. He 

wants us to give him a call. We also met a guy named AC. He was a former military guy. He was pretty funny, he 

was telling us how the crackheads don't even dare step on his porch the way we did. We asked him if he would 

want to hear our mesasge and he said "Yea, probably sometime when I'm not drunk." hah. 
The Highlight of the week was of course, John and Karolyn Shocknesse! We have taught them last Monday, 

Wednesday and yesterday. They are the Best! In our lesson on Monday, John said, "I feel like my life can be put 

into two parts now, before I met the Elders and after I met the Elders." I was also expressing to them how 

grateful I am that we were able to meet them at the Tridge. Then Karolyn told us that John originally was too 

nervous to meet with us the first time and was going to cancel but she convinced him to give it a try. We taught 

them the Word of Wisdom and then the next time we came back John said they had thrown out all their coffee. 

We also taught them about Tithing which we were pretty nervous about because Karolyn brought up tithing the 

very first time we met with them, but after we taught it John said, "We will find a way". They are so humble, and 

just have so much faith! John prayed at the end of our lesson on Monday and he just said in his prayer that he 

can't ask for anything more and just expressed to Heavenly Father how grateful he is. The Lord truly is preparing 

people. I'm so thankful to be able to be one of the missionaries that gets the opportunity to "teach the 

Shocknesse's. (They basically teach themselves, it's incredible. I swear he quoted Preach My Gospel in our last 

lesson about Prophets!)
We had Stake Conference this weekend. During the Saturday evening session, President Jacobsen spoke, and 

during his talk he had all of the missionaries go up and we hummed and sang Called to Serve. It was really cool. 

There were a ton of great talks. I feel like they were all General Conference worthy. Sister Jones gave a talk 

about how we need to all develop a spiritual appetite. 

That is what my spiritual thought is going to be about this week. Sister Jones talk was one of the best talks I 

have ever heard. She first talked a lot about having a willing heart. She said she likes the word willing because it 

promotes progress, not perfection. Then she said that we don't need to love every calling or assignment we have 

in the church but as we have a willing heart and continually do it, we will learn to love these things. She then 

talked about how we need to be preparing Zion. She mentioned Enoch and how when he brings back down his 

city to Zion, we need to be preparing ourselves so that it will be a smooth transition. It reminds me of Brad 

Wilcox's talk, His Grace Is Sufficient. We aren't earning heaven, or Zion, we are learning them. Salvation isn't an 

event, it's a process. As we learn to develop an appetite for spiritual things we will continually become more 

Christlike, and it will bring us more Joy than we could ever imagine. I want to add my testimony to this, and say 

that it's true. The beginning of my mission, I was really working on this. I didn't exactly love missionary work, I 

was always thinking about home and the things I would rather be doing. But as I have had a willing heart and 

mind and have worked hard at being a missionary, I can say now that I love it. I know I can learn to love it even 

more, so that is what I'm working on. I know you can all do it!

Also, Jesus the Christ is one of the coolest books ever! It helps you gain a better understanding of Jesus Christ, 

and who He is and what He has done for us. I'm only on page 40 and I have learned so much already!

I love you all and am so grateful for all the support you give me! CTR!

Love,

Elder Chalmers

"Namaste"

The 3D ship puzzle

The Shocknesse's!

THE FIRST SNOW                                                                                         11-3-14

Hello Everybody!                                                        

This was another great week, so I will get right into it...

Monday: Today after P-Day had concluded, we had dinner at the Depierro's house. It was really good, they gave

us some brownies to go (which were amazing), since Bro and Sis Jones picked us up from dinner. We taught 

John and Karolyn. We finished teaching the Plan of Salvation to them. It was a great lesson. We taught them 

about Priesthood blessings as well since both of them are really sick. Pray for them! Then we traded-off. Elder 

McBride was with me in M2. :)

Tuesday: Today was a great day of trade-offs with Elder McBride. We were on bikes but it was a little rainy so 

we decided to walk. I also had the "smart" idea of breaking in my new shoes since my other ones have huge 

holes in them and the heel is non-existent. We ended up having to walk like 5 miles and I got some gnarly 

blisters. Then we taught Ben where we talked about keeping the Sabbath-Day holy. Then we got the bikes and 

we met with Judie Berryhill. She was a former investigator who we picked back up. She is 70 and is a super nice 

lady. We brought Bro. Sovia with us, it was really cool. He was testifying about the Book of Mormon to her, it 

was really powerful. Then we knocked doors for a little while. We had dinner with the Jensen's. They made sweet

n'sour meatballs which were delicious. Then we biked home in the dark and made some phone calls. 

Wednesday: Today we had District Meeting on "The Power and Authority of our Calling" It was really good. After 

Rapp and I got picked up by Bro. Cannady and we went to see John and Karolyn. We taught them the Gospel 

of Jesus Christ. We also gave each of them a blessing. It was a really spiritual meeting. We also set their 

baptismal date for the 22nd of November. :) Then we knocked for a while. We had dinner at Bob Evans with 

Sister Anderson and Nyman. I got these cinnamon pancakes which were basically a huge cinnamon roll. It was 

a "slug between the teeth."

Thursday: Today we tried to contact people all morning then we met with Joe which was great. I love Joe! It is 

still so cool to see how much he has changed. The Atonement is for real! Then we knocked doors. We were 

weekly planning and then Bro. Jenkins called us and we went home teaching to Bonnie Bash. We talked about 

prayer with her. We had dinner at the Gudmunsun's. The sisters put us on the spot and made us give the 

thought. ha. It was good though.

Friday: Halloween! Today was the best! We had lunch at the Kepler's and then we set out raking all day. All 9 of 

us would go to a house and blitz it. The way they do it in Midland is they just put all their leaves out on the side 

of the street and the city picks it up so you rake the backyard and use tarps to drag it out. It was snowing while 

we were raking and it was like 35 degrees. It was a ton of fun. Then we had a make-your-own pizza thing at the 

Henson's. Jefferson Glenn, Tilah Parker and Joe Booth joined us. We played Apples to Apples and then played 

Catch Phrase. It got INTENSE! It was so much fun. :) 

Saturday: Today almost everybody cancelled on us. We went to the Shelterhouse and did service, it was a ton 

of fun. Then we met with Ben for a little bit. We met with the sisters and Sis. Nyman & Anderson to talk about 

the singles in the ward. Then we tried to go see James but he told us to leave since he was eating cereal. hah.

So we knocked. We met this lady named Dani. She is "spiritual," not religious. We were talking to her and of 

course she brought up polygamy and we explained it to her and she said, "That's the best argument I've heard 

for that." So everything we said after that she was a lot more open to. It was really cool. We got a return appt. 

with her. :) Then we got to go to GENJI! :) which is like Sakura. It's the Hibachi cooking place. It was so good. 

Sister Wheeler took us there. I was in heaven! Then we went to the Cormiers and we took Emma for a walk since

they are both pretty sick. It was fun. Then we stopped and saw a less active member. 

Sunday: Yesterday was a great day. I read Jesus the Christ and it was really good then at church John was 

there and so was Joshua Bick, who we saw yesterday. That was really cool. Fast and Testimony meeting was 

really good. One of the members got up there and talked for about 25 min, it was all over the place. John even 

made a joke about it. :) hah. I was laughing pretty hard. We talked about Adam and Eve in Gospel Principles and 

Bro. Duncan shared some really cool insights which will be my thought for the week. We had combined 

priesthood and relief society. We had a lesson on strengthening marriage. ha. They taught how keeping our 

covenants is the best way to strengthen marriage and family relationships. After church we knocked for a few 

hours then we went home teaching to the Pierce's with Bro. Lindauer and we had dinner in our apartment which 

was still great after a fast sunday. Afgter dinner we went Home Teaching again to Sister Bethea and Andrew 

Sheppard. We shared Elder Uchtdorf's talk, "Lord, Is It I?" It's such a good talk and it helped me a lot. 

Today we have shopped and we had to deep clean our apartment because we had inspections today. It all went 

great. Then we went to the mall. Now we are e-mailing. It was cool at the mall, Tilah Parker saw us and gave us 

some food!

So about Adam and Eve. What brother Duncan shared is that, in 2 Nephi 2, the whole thing talks about how we 

need opposition in all things. So he brought up that the reason that Adam and Even couldn't have kids is 

because since they couldn't die, they couldn't create life because there would be no opposition. I though it was 

really cool. So there is your thought for the week. :)

Love,

Elder Chalmers

The intense game of Catch Phrase

my blister

The Halloween Group

                                                                                                                  

10-27-14

Hey Everybody! This past week was another great week to be a missionary, I'm starting to be really thankful for 

my planner and especially my journal because I feel like it's all starting to blur together. Also by the end of this 

letter you will understand why it's titled Shocknesse. ha.

Last Monday: Last P-Day was good. We had dinner at John and Becky Jenkins. They are awesome. He is a 

resident and they have 5 little kids. It's a blast being over there. I love all of their kids. Then we went over to 

Blake's. We raked leaves with Kyle for a little bit and then talked with Blake. 

Tuesday: Today we knocked doors for quite a while which was fun as usual. We met a guy named Andrew, who 

let us in and we taught him the Restoration. It was a really cool lesson. We also talked a little about the Plan of 

Salvation. He was really sincere. It was sad though, because what he said to us before we left was that he knows

that Christ is preparing mansions for us but he said, "I'd rather be a dog in heaven, then a prince in hell." It's 

really sad when we meet people who are okay with settling for less then what Heavenly Father wants for them 

which is the very best. Then we had dinner at Bishop Savage's. It was really good, Sloppy Joes. ha. His parents 

were there and they live in Kalamazoo. She is European and has a super strong accent and is really cool. Elder 

Hess had told me all about her so it was good to finally meet her. Then we met with Helen.

Wednesday: Today was also really good. We tried to visit a lot of people in the morning since we had to give up 

the car today. After we gave the car to the Mt. Pleasant sisters we got the bikes. Then Bro. Cannady picked us 

up and we went and taught John and Karolyn Shocknesse. We taught the 1st half of the Plan of Salvation, it 

went really well. John had already been reading his Gospel Principles book, so he knew it all and of course, he 

believed it all. She was also really involved in the lesson. We invited them to be baptized at the end of the lesson, 

and they both said YES! They are on date for the 22nd of November. It was such a great lesson! Then we had 

dinner with the Millwards. They made this breaded chicken with rice and the only way to describe it would to use 

the words of a wise man I know, it was Gangbusters! :) Then we met with Jeff & Drew, our Seventh-Day 

Adventists... They basically were railing and slandering on Joseph Smith which naturally tested my patience. But 

we talked with them and told them our purpose so we decided to not meet anymore. Thank goodness. They are 

both super cool guys, though.

Thursday: Today we knocked for a while then later in the day we had to bike way out to Joe Booth's house. He 

had us over for dinner. It was BFD! :) It was good stuff. It was also Joe's B-day dinner, he turned 42 on the 26th! 

It was a really fun dinner. Joe's a funny guy. Then we helped set up for the Ward party.

Friday: Today we finished setting up for the ward party with Bro Jones then he outfitted us in our costumes. hah. 

We wore tail coats and top hats to the chili cook-off/trunk or treat. ha.  Then we got shined by Ben and we went 

and raked leaves for a less-active member, Brother Fultz. It was a beast of a job, but it was really fun. Then we 

went and taught Ben since he called us. We made prayer rocks with him. He loved it! It was a ton of fun and he 

also gave us his cigarettes! Then we had the ward party. It was a lot of fun. The missionaries got to be the judges

for the chili. The very first one I tried was super spicy so I could barely taste the rest of them. hah. Then we got to 

be in charge of Bro. Jones trunk. He made a candy wheel thing so that was fun. We even had an investigator 

bring her girls to it. :) Then we helped clean everything up and all that jazz.

Saturday: Today was Awesome! We got to play soccer with the ward again. It was so much fun! The weather 

was perfect and I was feeling good. :) Then we had lunch and studied. Then we went to the Tridge and 

afterwards met with James Cannady. We watched Finding Faith in Christ with him. He loved it! He said, "I like 

movies more than reading scriptures." He also said, "It's so overwhelming all the things that Christ did for us." 

Then he volunteered to say the closing prayer and he prayed that he would be able to do the "small and simple 

thing" like pray, read scriptures and go to church which is what we taught him last time. It was a really cool 

experience. On our bike ride back from his house I told Elder Rapp, "Mark my words, he will come to church 

tomorrow." (spoiler alert, he did. :)) Then we met with a former investigator named Matt Manceau, he's a really 

open guy, but nothing really happened with him. Then we were knocking and ran into a member, named Bro. 

Marshall. He talked to us about his mission and he gave us pie and ice cream. He really inspired Elder Rapp and 

I to go out and work. It's hard, because I feel like I'm working really hard but I always feel like I still have more to 

give and it's hard because I don't know if that's normal. But I just asked President Jacobsen about it. Then we 

met with Jeremy and Lauren Jones at the church. They are a part member family except he doesn't even 

remember anything. It was really cool.We also talked about the importance of the Book of Mormon with them. It 

was a really good day.

Sunday: Yesterday was great. The whole Shocknesse family came to church, and so did James. It was also the 

primary program, so of course it was the best. :) The lesson in Priesthood today was on Elder Bednar's talk from 

April's conference, Bear up Their Burdens with Ease. It was really good. After church, we went to the Tridge. We 

met a couple with two young kids and we talked about forever families and they were like, yeah, we're interested 

in that. It was cool. Then we did our studies and after had pulled pork sammys at the Kruegers. It was really 

great. Then we went Home Teaching with him to sister Wheelers. It was awesome. We talked about prayer with 

her and then also talked about the Eagles/Cowboys as well as Hawaii. It was awesome. 

So far today we have studied, and shopped and also played some B-Ball. 

My spiritual thought for the week is about D&C 4:5-6, and also the song "Love one Another." So the message 

that Bishop Savage has been having us share with members from D&C 4:5-6 is about Christlike attributes. We 

are showing members how exemplifying these attributes to those around us will be the best way to do 

missionary work. As I was studying this, I thought of the song, Love one Another, and also John 13:35, which 

says, "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another." So, the way that we 

are supposed to show others that we are disciples of Christ and members of his true church is by exemplifying 

him in our actions. That would be my challenge to all of you, to try and be Christlike to others, so they can know 

ye are disciples of Him.

I love you all so much!

Love,

Elder Chalmers

Joe's for Dinner

Prayer Rocks with Ben

The old school missionaries. :)

Conference, Birthday and Transfer #3!

END OF TRANSFER #3                                                                     October 20, 2014

Hey everybody! 

I have now finished my third transfer, it's crazy! This week was a really good one, so I will get into it.

Monday: We had dinner at the Gilberts and they are so cool. And that's about it. Blake shined us and then we tried to visit potentials..

Tuesday: We had lunch at Bro. Sovia's today. He is 88 and he made us french toast, sausage, and bacon, with Key lime pie for dessert. :) It was really good. He was baptized about 13 years ago and he always gives Ben a ride to church for us, so he's super cool. Then we went and volunteered at the Shelterhouse. We sorted and put all the books on the floor, we were sweating after it. ha. Then we met with Tim and Cathy Richard. They are the people who fix our bikes. We chatted with them about Mormonism and they told us about Catholicism. They are super nice and it was good getting to hear their views and they really appreciated our sincerity. Then we had dinner at the Pennock's. We found out that they are Elder Rapp's 4th cousins. hah. Then we met with Bro Jones and the sisters to go over the YSA's. We got Transfer Calls today, and Elder Finlayson is leaving. :(

Wednesday: Today we had district meeting, our last one of the transfer. It was on Charity. It was really good. Charity is such a great Christlike Attribute, I never realized that in "Love one Another" and in John 13:35, that it says, "by this shall men know, Ye are my disciples." It's so true, when we show Christlike love for others, they recognize us as his disciples and they can trust us. Then we took district pics and had lunch at Big Apple Bagles and I also brought my cheesecake to share with everyone. :) Then we went to John S.'s with Bro. Place. We had a super spiritual lesson with them. We talked a lot about forgiveness and she really opened up to us about all of their family problems and it was really emotional for all of us. We were able to tell them that the Gospel will help them with all of their problems and that's all because Jesus Christ suffered for us. Then we taught Ben and watched Finding Faith in Christ with him. He also gave us his cigarettes which was great. Then we had dinner at the Cormier's. She made her amazing enchiladas and also made a cake, since it was my "birthday dinner". Patti is the sweetest lady ever. I love her and Curt. :)

Thursday: Today we went to Midland High School field and did some sprints and bleachers and stuff, it was sweet. We taught Helen today about Tithing. It went well, but she is pretty hard to teach because she likes to look for excuses... Then we went home teaching with Bro. Lindauer to Sister Bethea where we talked about being patient through our trials. (Alma 26:27 & D&C 121:7-8) Then we did our weekly planning. It was definitely an interesting one. We started wrestling to liven things up but then it got a little too serious. So things were a little tense for a while after but we talked and joked it off. hah. :) Then we had a steak dinner at the Marcou's. It was delicious. We also taught them the GOJC, it was really good. I love the Marcou's. They are gems. 

Friday: Today we went and visited Bro. Sovereen. He showed us his photo album of his trip he just took to Italy, it was pretty cool. Then we met with Joe and we taught him about enduring to the end. Then Judie shined us, so we knocked for a long time. We met a Muslim who invited us to come back so he could learn more about us. We also met a lady named Cathy who is really solid. She said she will read the Book of Mormon and pray about it. She wants to read the whole thing.Then we knocked into these guys named Phil and Dave. They were something. Phil was definitely under the influence and so was Dave. So they invited us in and we taught the Resto then they told me to take a step back and think about what I'm doing, I'm putting my entire life off of a book so I bore them my testimony. And the Spirit was really strong. Then they told us how we should go into sales, if we have such a strong conviction for something we "can't prove" then we would be great at sales. Then they told us how successful we will be. ha. It was really funny and it was also a great experience to talk with them. They also invited us to go to a movie with them.  

Saturday: Today we got cancelled on by a part member family, so we knocked all day. We played 20 questions the whole time, to mix it up a little. Then we stopped at Bro. Jones and we helped him pick his grape vine and he also fed us lunch. Then we met with James C. We had a really intense lesson with him about doing the small and simple things. (Alma 37:6-7) He really opened up to us, it was really great. Then we met with Judie and had a really great discussion with her. She is also really solid. 

Sunday: John and Ben came to church today! It was awesome. John really liked it, and it was great to have him there. Both the talks in church were on Christlike patience. They were amazing. Then during the closing prayer in Gospel Principles, Joe snored like a bear. And then John said "He's not sleeping, he's praying through his nose" hah. After church we had coordination meeting. Then we tried to see a bunch of people. We saw Cathy again and she gave us cupcakes,and said she has read a little bit of the Book of Mormon. Then we knocked for a little bit. Then we had dinner at the Herzog's. They made lasagna and we were just talking earlier with the Sisters and Bro. Smith about how Elder Rapp hates lasagna and then we had it for dinner, it was hilarious. :) 

So the highlight of the week was John coming to church, he's so solid. He has a surgery on Wednesday, so keep him in your prayers that he will be okay. 

My spiritual thought of the week has to do with Agency. We had a lesson on it in Gospel Principles. So I learned this quote from Coach Graft "You are either getting better or you're getting worse, you never stay the same" Every second of every day, we have to make choices, and if it's a righteous choice, we become better and progess, if it's not, we take a step back. We can't take a break from agency, if so we are using our agency to not use our agency. Life is full of choices and we just need to continue to do our best to make the right ones. As we choose to keep the commandments we become more like Him. (D&C 93:28) As we sin, we become servants of sin. (John 8:34) So do what D&C 58:27 and be "anxiously engaged in a good cause" that way our righteous choices lead to "righteous consequences." Remember, we don't get to choose our consequences.

I love you all and thank you so much for all the love and support you give me. 

Love,

Elder Chalmers

GQ worthy...ha!

District Family

Pre-wrestling match

I'M 19!

Hello Everybody!                                                                         Oct. 13, 2014

This past week was such a good one! I had a great birthday, and we had some really cool experiences!

Last Monday: After e-mailing we went to the Midland High JV soccer game to watch Blake's stepson Kyle and Spencer James play. It was really fun getting to watch them. I felt like I was at one of my soccer games being there. Then we had dinner with the Joneses. (Val and Lori) She made this squash and it was so good! Elder Rapp did not like it but I was loving it. :) I've noticed that I will eat anything now and it all tastes so good to me. I haven't had one bad meal my entire mission. Gotta love Stateside! :) Then we met with Blake.

Tuesday: Today we pretty much knocked all day. I don't really remember anything too exciting happening. One guy started yelling at us on the doorstep though, it was pretty intense. I kept trying to apologize if we had offended him but he wasn't having it. hah. Then we taught Jeff H. that night. It wasn't too good. He's a Seventh-day adventist and he won't read the Book of Mormon, so anytime we show him a scripture out of it he just ignores it, it's really frustrating, it drives me insane! But, I get over it. :) I have the Gospel of Jesus Christ, I can't complain. :)

Wednesday: It was my Birthday! We had district meeting and the whole time we did practice finding and teaching. It was really cool. I learned a lot. Then after that we got to watch Meet the Mormons! It was so good. It just plays with your emotions, almost all of us missionaries were crying by the end of it. hah. Then we had district lunch at Mancino's which was delicious as usual. :) Then we went home to change and there were 3 big boxes outside our door. My family just spoiled me. :) I would tell you everything I got but the list would be so long and all of you would get really covetous. ;) I also got some other packages that were all really nice, so thank you everyone for the birthday wishes and gifts. I loved them all. :) We got to knock doors for a while and then Sister Pierce brought us over Wendy's since they were all super busy, it was really good. Bro Jones had us over and he and his wife gave me a present. It was an apron, it's a pretty funny one. They are so great! We then knocked some more doors and met a really cool guy named Preston. Then Jon and Jan Marcou had us over and we had birthday cake and a lesson with them. It was really fun. They told us the story of their daughter's conversion.

Thursday: Today was also really fun. After studies we went out to Dennis's. We did some more tear-off on his roof and had lunch with him. He's so funny. We had a lot of fun. Then we taught Ben and we gave him a pack of gum. We told him to chew it whenever he felt the urge to smoke, so we're really praying that that will help him. We had dinner at the Smith's home. It was really funny, she told us that she doesn't feed the sister missionaries because they should be able to cook for themselves. hah. We had no problem with it. :) Then we went to see Tim Richard, who is the guy who always fixes our bikes whenever they break. (which is all the time...) We just went to thank him. Then we got talking and he invited us back so we're pretty excited to see him and his wife again. Then we met with Josh & Emily. He's the guy who Elder Rapp and I met the first day he was here. We taught them the Resto and they are really open to learn about it. She even prayed at the end of the lesson. :) 

Friday: Today was also a great day. We got to teach Helen. We had to go over the Word of Wisdom with her since Asians love their tea, but we were able to clarify that with her so it's all good. :) Then we met with Joe and we taught him the Plan of Salvation. One of his friends was there and she was listening to the whole thing, so it was really cool. Then we did weekly planning. We met a lady named Sally while we were knocking doors. She was really nice and we talked with her for a while and were able to swap info with her so we're excited about her as well. :) Then we went to see Curt, since Patti is on a womens' retreat. We talked for a while and took their dog Emma on a walk for him, since he was exhausted. That dog goes on two legs when it pees! It's so funny. hah. 

Saturday: We got to play soccer with the ward in the morning. It was so much fun! When we got there it was 33 degrees outside, it was chilly! Elder Rapp is like mom, he hates the cold, but I was fine, I'm part Alaskan still. ;) I was in heaven. I scored a hat trick. ha. Afterwards, we studied. We spent almost the entire day at the Tridge since there were a lot of people there. We also got to go out to Jon's house. Bro and Sis Jones came with us. We had like a two hour lesson with him and his wife. It was so cool! They told us all of their struggles and they are definitely struggling. Then Bro Jones asked if they had been praying and they said they had and he said that we were the answer to their prayers. It was really bold, but powerful. Jon is so solid. It's amazing how prepared he is. He told us how he's been defending the Book of Mormon to his in-laws. He's so humble and has so much faith, it's truly a miracle. After Jon, we spent the rest of the day at the Tridge.

Sunday: Today we were able to attend Ward Council for the first time! It was really cool. It was an eye opening experience to see what goes on "behind the scenes" in a ward. None of our investigators came to church. :( However Jon did text us after church and told us he wants to meet soon and set his date for baptism. :) Joe also had his Priesthood ordination today then we went and visited Krista F. Who Elder Rapp and Stevenson met on trade-offs. She is so cool, so is her fiance Steve. He made a few polygamy jokes and it went really well. :) We gave them a resto and Plan of salvation pamphlet. Then we had to study. Then we had dinner at the James. We had corn chowder with bacon in it. It was heaven sent and it being fast Sunday didn't hurt. :) I love the James family, I love them. They remind me a lot of my family. They are all so nice and friendly. I love being in their home. Then we taught the McCormicks about keeping the Sabbath-day holy. We read D&C 59 with them, it went really well. 

Today we have shopped, helped out Bro Lindauer, studied, and then shopped some more. ha.

The spiritual thought of the week has to do with patience. I have been studying patience lately since it's definitely something I've been working on. I love both Alma 26:27 & 17:10-11. They both talk about how when we are patient through our trials,then we will be blessed and be successful. I can testify that it's true especially at the very beginning of my mission, I just couldn't wait for my two years to be up and it was really hard. There was one morning where Elder Hess got in the shower and I just broke down. I just wanted to go home and be with my family but now, I don't feel that way. I can't wait to see my family again, but I don't want to go home anymore. I love it here. I was thinking yesterday how sad I will be when I have to leave Midland. I would already say that my mission has been a success so far, I love it. So I promise that as we are all patient in our trials, God "will give unto you success."

I love you all and am always praying for you. Thanks for all the love and support.

Love,

Elder Chalmers

The "Chalmers" Twins

Dennis's roof

Birthday cake with The Marcous'

My cupcake from Elder Wiscombe

My apron from the Joneses

CONFERENCE WEEKEND!                                                Oct. 6, 2014

Hey everybody!!!

As you can see, I'm still pretty hot about conference, it was so good. I guess I will also confess that it was also the first time I have watched all 5 of the sessions and man, I wasted my time not always watching them, they were all so good. All of us missionaries were loving Elder Bednar's talk, it was so good. 

Anyway, I had a really good and fun week so let me tell y'all about it!

Monday: Last week we had dinner and taught a FHE at Helen's. We sang childrens' hymns in Chinese and did a matching game of "I am a Child of God" in English and Chinese for Gordon. It's crazy, they speak way more Chinese than English, so we have to deal with a language barrier which I didn't think would be a problem. Helen is so amazing. She is so solid, she hasn't missed church yet and even was at the church for both of the sessions on Sunday. She loves the gospel,and just wants to know it all, she has such a strong desire. It's so amazing to see. Then we met with Blake.

Tuesday: Today we witnessed a miracle! So since it was the last day of the month we didn't have any miles left so we were stuck walking all day. When you walk you can't get nearly as much missionary work done. :/ We went to the Tridge and then after lunch we walked to try and see Bro. Sovereen, who it turns out is in Italy. So after knocking doors for a while we had to walk to Curt and Patti's. I thought they were about 3 miles away but they were actually about 5 and we were supposed to be there in an hour. So I had planned to go down Jefferson then on Saginaw, then up Bay City Road to get there. (I realize none of this makes sense to you, but if you get a map of Midland it sort of would, ha) But once we got to Wheeler I just felt like we should walk down that street and then we came to Washington and I felt like we should turn on that street as well then about 30 seconds later, Curt pulled up next to us and told us to get in. IT was a MIRACLE! He drove us to his house and Patti had made pancakes and had made more than usual. She said she just felt like she should have extra so we also got fed dinner! It was such a cool experience. It's crazy how things as simple as getting a ride and getting fed dinner can have such an impact on us. I know that the Holy Ghost was leading us to Washington so Curt could pick us up, The Lord cares about even our smallest, almost insignificant needs. After the Cormiers we met with Jeff H. & Drew. They basically just told us how the Bible proves us wrong about the Fall, Spirit World, and other things. I was so frustrated during the whole thing because I know they are wrong, but I didn't want to be confrontational. It was rough. Then we traded-off with the 1st ward Elders, so I went to their area. Elder Finlayson and I cleared out their living room and we wrestled. :) It was intense, we wrestled for like 15 min. We went to bed way too sweaty. ha.

Wednesday: For my studies, I was still pretty hot about our meeting with Jeff and Drew so I was studying the fall and Spirit World and it was mostly out of spite, so it wasn't too good. After studies, we met one of their investigators, Diane, at the family history center. The people there helped her out and so Elder Finlayson and I were looking at family history. I was looking around and clicked on Grandpa Bob. I was able to re-read his conversion story and testimony when he returned to Hawaii. I'm pretty sure that was Grandma Chalmers who put those on there, so I want to thank you, Grandma. His story and testimony are so powerful and they really brought me a lot of comfort and an even stronger conviction to share the gospel and help others the way Elder Smoot & Anderson did for our family. We then drove way out of town and met with Betty. She has been having a really hard time quitting smoking and says that she just can't quit so I asked her how her prayers have been. She said she does good at night, but not in the morning. So we talked about the importance of starting your day off with prayer and asking for guidance and help from your Father in Heaven. (2 Nephi 32:8-9) Then we made prayer rocks with her which was pretty fun. Following Betty, we did service for a member of the ward who is moving. He is redoing his roof so we were doing tear-off on his roof. He has two layers of shingles on there, so it was intense. Once we left, I was drenched in sweat, it was really fun though. Then I got to do something that I have wanted to do ever since I came to Midland... We went to Genji! It's a Hibachi grilling place and some members of the 1st ward always take the missionaries there so I lucked out. It was So Good! :) 

Thursday: This morning we played some zone ball since we had zone training. It was a ton of fun. I got to see Elder Wiscombe. He is training as well, he's so awesome. It was a ton of fun playing ball. One of the missionaries, Elder Wheat, can thrown it down. He's a beast. Then we had zone training, which was really good. Elder Tuttle had two of the elders come up and do a practice door knock on him and would stop it every so often and go over it, it was really cool. Then we weekly planned and later met with James Cannady. Then at night we met with Laura Chubb with the Sisters. She is a less-active. She gave us donuts and is just a super nice, sweet lady. 

Friday: Today we did a lot of knocking without much success. We had to stop at the Cormier's to let them know that Bro. Jones was picking them up to go do baptisms for the dead. Curt asked me how our meeting with Jeff & Drew went. I told him it wasn't too good and that we probably weren't going to keep meeting with them, since it wasn't really going anywhere. Curt was NOT happy about that. He then proceeded to "let me have it" for about an hour. He kept telling me that there can only be one truth and we have it so we need to let them know it. Curt was part of a ministry for about 3 years and so he has a serious "bible bashing" mentality. He's already told us that he's coming with us to our next meeting with them, so we will see how that goes... :) hah.  Then we got lunch at Taco Bell and the cashier was like "You're Mormons? I love Mormons." So we talked with her for a while and got her info. It was the only interested person we met all day, it was pretty cool. Then we did service. We also stopped in on the McCormick's and Penny said that Don had gotten in a car accident and freaking scared us half to death but then Don was alright so we talked with them for a while, it was a really good meeting. Then since it was Elder Nielsen's b-day they came over and we made spaghetti and had his Reese's ice cream cake that was really good. :)

Saturday: We woke up and studied as usual and then went to the Seventh-Day Adventist worship service since Jeff was giving the sermon. He gave a good sermon, it was kind of funny, everyone shook our hand and made sure to tell us "Happy Sabbath." Then we watched conference at the church. It was so dang good. I really liked Lynn G. Robbins talk about remember which way you face, also Elder Christofferson's talk. In between sessions we went and met with David Clark. Then we came back and watched the next session. I really liked Andersen, Callister, and Klebingat all in a row. I loved how bold Klebingat was. After conference we had dinner at the church. Sister Reyes made us and the 1st ward sisters enchiladas. Then we met Bro. Jones at DQ for blizzards. Then we watched priesthood session. I loved all of it. I don't want to give away any of the secrets of it though... ;) hah. Then we went home and went to bed, it's so weird that priesthood doesn't end until 10PM here!

Sunday: We met Ben early and talked about conference and then watched it. I thought Hales' talk was really cool. Then we had a brunch for our gospel principles class. It was so good! Then we watched the last session of conference. Elder Bednar's talk was a great way to finish it off. :) Then we had dinner at the church again. Sister Reyes fed us again, she's an angel. Then we met with the McCormicks. We talked about conference and especially Elder Bednar's talk. It was really cool. We let her know why we were there and that we were there for her and to help her come unto Christ, it was really good. Then we stopped by the Cormiers to talk about meeting with Jeff and Drew.

I just want to let all of you know how thankful I am for each one of you. I am loving serving a mission. It is so much fun. I have really come to love the Gospel. Everyday when I study, I love it. I just wish I could know it all and have more time to study. I always have to remind myself of 2 Nephi 28:30- Line upon line, precept upon precept. There is nothing better than learning and teaching about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I love it!

My thought for the week comes from something I noticed at conference. In at least 3 talks, they quoted Helaman 5:12. I know that there is a reason that the Lord inspired so many people to talk about it. It talks about how we need to build our foundation upon Christ. That when the devil shall send trials our way they will have no power over us because we have built our foundation on Christ. I would challenge all of us, including myself, to follow what Elder Richard G. Scott spoke about and do each one of those four things, (Pray, Scriptures, FHE, and Temple) to continue to build and strengthen our testimony of Christ so that we will have a strong foundation which we all need. I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior and Redeemer and that through his Atonement we can be made clean. So let us all "Come unto Christ, and be perfected in him." As Lorenzo Snow said, "Be better today than you were yesterday, and be better tomorrow than you are today!

Love,

Elder Chalmers

shopping

conference is tiring

Comp unity!