Penny & Virginia got baptized! :) April 13, 2015
This week was amazing! The highlight was the baptism of both Virginia Hollis and Penny Puckett and there were a lot of other great things happening here in Kalkaska! :)
Monday: After e-mailing we went for a run and hung out. We had dinner at President Thomas's house. They had this cool website that shows who your relatives are. I'm 4th cousins with Joseph Smith, so that was cool. Also Elder Houser and I are like 10th cousins 8 times removed, so we're getting pretty close over that. :) ha. Then we had a lesson with Virginia and went over the baptismal interview questions with her to make sure she is ready for her baptism. Virginia is really cool. She used to be RLDS and so her hang-up was originally the need to be baptized again but she told us that now that she's been reading the Book of Mormon, she's noticed how it emphasizes the need for authority a lot, so it's really cool. The Book of Mormon is key!
Tuesday: Today we were able to have a lesson with Chris and Angel. It wasn't the greatest lesson because he had just woken up, if that explains it. ha. We helped Brian McDuffie's neighbor do some cleaning in her garage and then were helping finish cooking our dinner with Bro. McDuffie when Elder Houser accidentally put the lid to his pot on the burner that was still on, so that caught on fire. He had me use the fire extinguisher (my first time! :)). So that was quite fun. He called it "The Great Fire of 2015" ha. He now calls Elder Houser, "Elder Hazard." We watched the Restoration video with Penny, it was really good. She's really excited for her baptism! Then we met with Virginia again.
Wednesday: We had a really good day. We met with the Hildebrand's and had a good discussion with them. Then we knocked and met a guy named Tony. He was really cool and wants to talk with us more. We met up with Bro. Thomas and had a lesson with Tiffany and the kids. We had Bro. Thomas explain to Bill how the Book of Mormon and the Bible work together. Bro. Thomas is SUPER knowledgeable, so it was really cool and it made a lot of sense to Bill. We had Virginia's baptismal interview. Elder Elmer did it, and she is all good to go! Then we did a trade-off. I was with Elder Coziar. He's a really cool guy. We went and taught George, the 19 year old, the Plan of Salvation, it was a sweet lesson. George gets things really well and it makes sense to him.
Thursday: Elder Coziar and I had a sweet day. We did some door knocking and had a Baptist guy be pretty forward about how he feels about us but oh well. We also met the Sheriff and he is really cool, so that could come in handy later. :) We had lunch with the Piatts and then Gary came out with us all day. We drove to Bellaire and Elder Coziar did Penny's baptismal interview, she's good to go as well. :) We also had a great lesson on the Atonement with Ken and Donna following a lesson with Tiffany. We taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ and they are committed to their baptismal date still! When we traded back we had a great lesson with our neighbor JR on the Plan of Salvation. He's such a sincere guy.
Friday: Today was the baptism day. Preparing for a baptism is super stressful, but the pay off is well worth it. We had to make the program and it took 5 hours to fill the font so we had to be at the church for all of that, we did our weekly planning during it. There was some stress getting everything ready and all of that but it all worked out. Gary Piatt gave the talk on the Holy Ghost, he's been a member 6 months now. I don't think I've ever met someone as sincere as him. His talk was amazing. Then Elder Houser baptized Penny and I baptized Virginia. It was amazing and they were both so happy. :) It was a great night! I'm super happy for them. :)
Saturday: Today we were able to pick up a few new investigators and do some finding. We read the Book of Mormon with George and Stanley's friend, Dana was there and I felt prompted to see if we could help her at all, so said she could use some help raking so after we tried to meet with a few people, we helped her out. I have a gnarly blister to show for it but it was really good to follow the Spirit and help someone in need. :) We also met some cool potentials.
Sunday: Today was great. Elder Houser confirmed Virginia and I was able to confirm Penny. It was also an amazing experience. They are both such great ladies. We had a lesson with Ken and Donna as well as some less active members then we went by one of our potentials from yesterday, Dan. We taught him the Restoration, he really liked it and has a lot of sincere desire, so that was really exciting! It was also 70 degrees today! :)
Monday: This morning we woke up and went "hiking" up a hill with Ken. We had a good time talking and spending time together. It was also like 50 degrees. :)
My spiritual thought is to take a look into the First Vision. We had a lesson on Joseph Smith in Priesthood that I was able to teach. If we take a close look at the First Vision we can learn a lot of important truths. A few are the power of a sincere prayer and that we often receive a witness when we have given it our all and are about to give up. There are many more truths we can learn. I know that Joseph Smith is a prophet of God and that brings me joy and comfort and it can do the same for you. I love D&C 135:6 "They lived for glory; they died for glory; and glory is their eternal reward."
Love,
Elder Chalmers
Elder Chalmers
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| Me, VIrginia, Penny and Elder Houser |
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| Early morning hike |
Elder Chalmers+Houser=Kalkaska Part 2 April 6, 2015
This was a good week in Kalkaska! We also got our transfer call, and we are staying in Kalkaska together for another transfer! With Conference and Easter, this was a great week, I'm sure for everybody! :)
Monday: Today we went running and exercised for a while. Then we had a lesson with Stanley and the guy who lives at his house with him, George, was listening in so we involved him a lot in the lesson and we are going back to teach him and catch him up. He's 19, so he should be fun. :) We went to see the Chowhan's who just got back from their cruise.
Tuesday: Today we spent the majority of the day in Bellaire. We saw a few less-actives and spent most of it door knocking. We met some really cool people and have some people who invited us to come back. Then we had a lesson with Virginia and Pres. Thomas came with us. We read 2 Nephi 31 with her. She's gettting baptized on the 10th! :) We had a little time left so we knocked doors until dark. We went into the trailer park and it was full of miracles. We met a lady who was really interested and invited us back for next week then we met a couple, Nolan and Lindsey. They let us in and he told us he was drunk but that they felt like us coming over was a sign, so they invited us back for the next day!
Wednesday: We had our last district meeting in Cadillac. It went really well. We all shared why we are on our mission and it was a really spiritual experience. Then on the way home we stopped to see the Laforest's and had a good lesson with them. Then we had to drive home and Bro. Stickney picked us up. We had a lesson with Nolan and Lindsey. It went really well, they committed to be baptized! We watched the Restoration video with Bill. He liked it. He is a great guy and we are really trying to help him to see the importance of reading and praying about the Book of Mormon. We met Steve at the church. He brought Virginia and Penny. We taught them and picked out everything for their baptism, then read the Book of Mormon together. They are both some awesome ladies!
Thursday: Today we had to go to Traverse City to get our phone switched to our new one. We talked to the lady who did it for us, and gave her a "Because He Lives" card. :) We spent a while knocking in Williamsburg. We had a good time and met some cool people. One guy was pretty interested. Then we met Gary Piatt and had a lesson with George. He understood the Restoration really well, and committed to be baptized! :) Then we had dinner with the O'Neills and went to see one of his friends. We talked a little about the Plan of Salvation with her, it was good. Then we visited the Piatts.
Friday: Today we got our T-Call that we are staying in Kalkaska. Then we did our weekly planning. After that, we went to see some potentials close by before Steve came to get us and we went to Rapid City. We met with Donna and Ken. We had a great lesson on the Atonement then we taught Virginia, she's still solid. Later, we read the Book of Mormon with Tiffany and the kids. They are a crazy bunch, so it's hard to get things focused. They are great though.
Saturday: Today we watched a lot of conference! :) It was so great! There were so many amazing talks. I loved Elder Renlund's talk and the quote by Nelson Mandela, "a saint is a sinner who keeps on trying," then how he said, if you quit trying, you're a Latter Day Sinner! Elder Ringwood's talk was also really good. We taught Stanley in between sessions and had an ice cream social before the Priesthood session which was awesome. All of the talks were amazing. My favorite quote of it, and of the whole conference, was from Larry M. Gibson's talk. He said, "Preach the Gospel at all times, and when necessary, use words." There is so much truth behind that.
Sunday: The O'Neill family had us over for a breakfast of waffles :) then we went and watched conference. Elder Holland and Elder Uchtdorf's talks back to back were so powerful, Holy Cow! Then we had dinner with the Thomas's. It was some good stuff then we watched the rest of conference. I really liked Kevin Pearson's talk. Conference was great! We had another dinner with the O'Neill family. They take good care of us. :) It was a great Easter.
My spiritual thought is the quote I wrote down: "Preach the Gospel at all times, and when necessary, use words." As the common adage goes, actions speak louder than words. Always live your faith, and blessing, and opportunities for missionary work will follow.
I love you all!
Love,
Elder Chalmers
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| The District |
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| Elder Elmer, who used to live in Santa Clara! |
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| Fresh Prince... |
TOUR OF NORTHERN MICHIGAN March 30, 2015
This week was a great one! Through the trade-offs and interviews this week, I got a good tour of Northern Michigan. :) It's a "great thing!"
Monday: After our P-Day that consisted of me taking a tubby because I ate too much and doing a lot of catch up things, we had a couple of great lessons. We taught the guy who lives across the street from us, his name is JR. He is super cool. We taught him the Restoration. He had a few friends there are well. His friend Stephanie was listening and was really interested and he had another friend there, who was the most agnostic person I've ever met, he was kind of a pain. ha. It was a good lesson though. We met with Stanley and we read the Book of Mormon with him. Steve was with us, great as usual :) then the Zone Leaders came and we started our trade-off and planned together. Elder Elmer used to live in Santa Clara, he left about a year before we moved in, so he was asking me all about the people he knew and I was telling him about them. It was really fun. :)
Tuesday: I got to spend today in Traverse City! Before we left Kalkaska, all 4 of us elders went running in the morning, that was fun. :) Getting to be with Elder Elmer for the day was amazing! He is such a spiritual giant. We did a lot of things that were "out of the ordinary" but we were following the Spirit and there is a great satisfaction in doing what Heavenly Father wants you to do, even if you can't see an immediate benefit in it. A lot of times I believe He is testing His trust in us and as we do so, we build that trust. We were able to knock doors and saw a ton of miracles, almost everyone we talked to received us, it was great! We met with Dale who is the man I was able to interview a few weeks ago, before he was baptized. He and his fiance are the coolest people ever! Then we taught a less active member. I learned a ton in following the Spirit from Elder Elmer, it was great!
Wednesday: We drove back to Kalkaska, and Elder Houser and I were reunited. :) We had a great day! We were able to take Dillon with us all day, he is less active. It was really great. We first taught John Tweedie, it was really great, he loves having us over. Then we met with Chris and Angel. We watched the Restoration video. The Spirit was really strong, he loved it. Angel really likes us, but her mom is against the church, so she sort of is now, it's sad. Chris would be baptized in 5 min. if he could...then we met with Virginina. We taught her about tithing and wrapped up the commandments with her. We gave her a paper and we're having her plan her baptism. She and Penny are going to both be baptized on Friday night, April 10th! :) We also had a really great lesson with Bill. We taught him the Restoration and put him on date to be baptized. He is really humble and has a real desire to know if the Book of Mormon is true. Then we ate dinner really quickly and traded off with the Cadillac Elders. I went down to Cadillac with Elder Lowder.
Thursday: We had a great day in Cadillac! We did a lot of door knocking in a town called Harrietta. (I laughed every time I saw a sign) :) ha. Elder Lowder and I were able to have a really good talk together. We taught a couple of really good lessons to some less-active members and we also taught their investigators and put the 13 year old son on date, that was really cool. We worked really hard and it was a great day. He told me, "I learned a lot this trade-off, not so much what you said, but what you did." That was really cool for me. Elder Lowder is one of the most sincere missionaries I know. His dad is also an OB/GYN, so he has to be cool. :)
Friday: We drove to Gaylord to have interviews today. We were instructed first by Sister Jacobsen on the new "Because He Lives" initiative, which will be really cool. Before I went in to be interviewed, we received a call and found out that John Tweedie, our investigator passed away. That was really hard for both of us. The knowledge of the Gospel and our Father's Plan for us, really was a comfort to both of us. My interview was really good, I love President Jacobsen, he is a great man and gives great counsel. Then we had district meeting. It was on finding people and how we have to be friendly and then bold/loving that way we give people a clear choice on why they need to meet with us and learn more of the Gospel. We had lunch as a zone, one of the senior couples made it for us then we drove home and did our weekly planning. We weren't able to get a lot of work done today, but it was still good.
Saturday: Today we knocked doors almost the entire day. We met some cool people and got some good potentials. It also wasn't too cold, so that was a blessing. We had a lesson with Stanley. Gary Piatt was with us and was great. He related to him so well and was a great teacher. We really emphasized the importance of specific prayers and baptism so he can be with his wife, who passed away, forever. Then we taught the Piatts about the Temple and they shared their experience with us. They did baptisms for Debbie's family and loved it. Then we had dinner at BC pizza with Sisters Jones and Chandler. We had a competition. It was a dismal effort from Elder Houser, no contest. :) ha. We worked really hard today, it was great!
Sunday: Church was great. There were a lot of really powerful testimonies. The Kalkaska branch is something truly special. Everybody always bears their testimony and the Spirit is always so strong. Elder Houser and I also bore our testimonies. Penny, Virginia and Donna were there. We were able to show Penny and Virginia the baptismal font. We are all excited for their baptisms coming up! :) Then we did our call-ins and had dinner at the Oneil's. They are really cool and live next door to us! Then we drove up to Bellaire and picked up Steve. It also started snowing pretty hard. :( We had a lesson with Virginia and talked about temples with her. She understands everything really well and is getting excited for her baptism. She's a great lady. :)
My Spiritual Thought comes from Alma 34, which is an amazing chapter and I would recommend a serious study of it.. :) Alma 34:34 -"Ye cannot say, when ye are brought to that awful crisis, that I will repent, that I will return to my God. Nay, ye cannot say this; for that same spirit which doth possess your bodies at the time that ye go out of this life, that same spirit will have power to possess your body in that eternal world." I love this scripture because it shows us that death isn't going to change who we truly are. This life as the verse that precedes this one says, is our time to prepare for eternity. We need to refrain from becoming complacent and always be improving. We also need to be patient and as it says in D&C 67:13 - "continue in patience until ye are perfected." The Atonement is real and it can really change us as long as we allow it to.
I love you all so much and I love being a missionary. There really is nothing better then spending every day serving others and the Lord. "Every Member a Missionary," the blessings are available to each one of us. :)
Love,
Elder Chalmers
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The Bay in Traverse City
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| Weekly Planning |
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| The Traverse City Zone |
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