I Now Know Why People Live in Northern Michigan

                                                                                                                                      April 27, 2015

This was a great week in Kalkaska! They all are, but this one was great as well. :) We met a super prepared lady this week, it was incredible!

Monday: I had to catch up on a lot of journals today, and I exercised, it was a pretty bland P-Day. We got some pizza with Bro. McDuffie and then helped Chris rake his yard. We had a great lesson with Tiffany and then Chris & Angel. It was a great day. We also called the lady who we met while we were driving down the highway and felt impressed to stop and talk to her. She asked us before we asked her, when we will be in Bellaire again, because she "really wants to talk to us" so we were pumped about that. :)

Tuesday: Today we met with Deb (the lady from the highway).. Before that though... we had a lesson at the Lamb's. Bro. McDuffie brought cupcakes for E. Houser's Birthday which is on the 28th. We taught the GOJC and had some great discussion then we had lunch with the Draher's. They drive trucks, but their truck is broken down so the whole branch is happy that they are here for a little longer. They rock. We were knocking doors and we met a 19 year old who let us in. We had a cool discussion with him and we're going to see him later in the week. So, we had our lesson with Deb... WOW! Steve was already there and she has been reading a book called, "The Keys of Enoch" which talks about the church and the Melchizedek Priesthood. So we had a prayer, and the second question she asked us was, "How do I go about being baptized?" We almost didn't know what to do. It was a miracle. She had read the restoration pamphlet and believed it all! We went through it with her and she believed it all so we gave her a Book of Mormon. It all happened so fast, she is so prepared! We left and then went back because we felt like we should give her a Plan of Salvation pamphlet. She answered the door and told us she was just about to pray and also that "it felt like God was just in my house." Again, Wow. It's so rewarding to look back and see the fruits of following the Spirit. We met this lady while driving down the highway. The Lord will put people in your path so we need to be worthy and courageous enough to follow those promptings and then wait to see the hand of God bring salvation to souls. We had dinner with Sue who is a new convert and the Robinson's, then we had a lesson with Stanley. Deb was such a miracle!

Wednesday: We had a great district meeting today. I got the chance to study humility, it was really cool. We had an intense lesson with Bill. We talked about being baptized by the proper authority and things got a little contentious. By the time we left, however, he had prayed and asked that his heart would be softened and he wouldn't be so set in his ways. It was the power of testimony. Elder Houser bore a really powerful testimony to him. Then we had a lesson with Virginia and then had a lesson with the Piatts.

Thursday: Today we spent quite a while in Fife Lake knocking doors. We met some cool people and had a great time. We had a lesson with George today that went really well. We are having a hard time getting him to keep commitments, which has been a little tough. We had a potential leave us a note saying that she didn't want to meet anymore, but she did call us "fine gentlemen" which added some humor, even though we were sad she didn't want to meet. 

Friday: Today we had lunch with the Hildebrand's then went to Bellaire and did some door knocking. We met a guy who was walking and talked to him. He told us how he used to weigh 420 pounds and then started walking, and 4 years later, he weighs 170 pounds. It was incredible! We are going to go back and see him! We had a lesson with the 19 year old, Dominic. It was good, he had a lot of good questions and hopefully we can see him again. Then we taught Tiffany.

Saturday: Today we went out with President Robinson. We visited a less active member, and she and her husband are super cool. We also read 1 Nephi 4 with Angel. That was awesome as well. We went to Priesthood leadership and the adult session of district conference. It was really good. We went with Gary Piatt. He is the coolest guy ever. He is so new to the church and is so sincere and just does things. He's amazing. 

Sunday: We tried to go with Gary to get George for church, but it didn't work. :( For district conference we got to watch a broadcast. It was Elder Andersen and Hales and it was really good. We had a bible study with Virginia's niece and nephew, they are super cool. We are hoping for some really cool things to happen over there. :) We also taught Tiffany and Chris & Angel. We also saw Donna, her baby is due this week, so that should be cool!

Today we are in Cadillac for our district p-day, so that should be a lot of fun. :)

My spiritual thought from the week comes from my study on humility. In D&C 67:10 it says that fear and jealousy oppose humility. As I thought about that, it all made sense. When we become jealous, it's because we are insecure about ourselves and how others view us. Having low self-esteem also equates into this. So because of that we focus all of our time and attention on trying to improve ourselves in the wrong ways so we can be "seen by men". When we are truly humble we know that our true strength lies in God and that being more and more Christlike each day is really all that matters.

I love you all!

Love,

Elder Chalmers

With Steve after Penny's and Virginia's baptisms...YES!!

                                                                                                                                    April 20, 2015

This was a great week. The work has been great here, as usual. But the change has been the weather, it was such a nice week! :) I already partially understood why people lived here, everyone here is awesome, but the cold just isn't too great. However, the sunny and 70 degree weather makes it all make sense. :)

Monday: We got invited to lunch with Bro. Chowhan after e-mailing. So we did that and then had to clean our apartment for inspections. After that we went to Bro. Chowhan's and spent the rest of P-Day over there. Then we tried by a few people. We had an awesome lesson with George. We read the Book of Mormon with him. We prayed really specific before and after and took a few minutes to really think about it. The Spirit was really strong and we knew he could feel it. :) We left him to ponder how he felt when we left. Then we met with Chris and Angel. That went pretty well also. We had to leave, but Steve stayed over there until like 11:30 talking to them. ha. Steve is awesome!

Tuesday: Today was also a pretty good day. We had a good lesson with Chris and then Bro. Lamb. We tried by a referral and then knocked a few doors. One of the guys we met was not too happy to see us and made it clear he didn't want us on his property... :) We had dinner with Bro. McDuffie then had our apartment inspections. We passed with flying colors. We had second dinner with the Chowhans. :) We watched Kevin W. Pearson's talk from conference, "Stay By the Tree." It was so good. It's one of my favorites!

Wednesday: We had district meeting in Cadillac. I stayed there for trade-offs with Elder Hoover. He's a stud. We knocked on doors all day. It was great! The weather was great and we met a lot of cool people. They might move the Cadillac elders out to Manistee, so I asked him if he wanted to stay or go out to Manistee and he gave a golden response. He said, "I don't care, I'm here to serve." He's got a great attitude! 

Thursday: We went running along Lake Cadillac in the morning and at the turn around point we stopped and had a great view of the lake and the sunrise. The sky was all pink, it was super pretty. We did some more door knocking and then traded back. Elder Houser and I spent some time in Fife Lake. We were knocking but it's on the lake, so not very many people were home. We tried by a few referrals. It was pretty good, we set some return appts with them so we were really excited about that. We had dinner with the O'Neills and after that we tried by one of Bro. O'Neills friend and on the way back, we felt like we needed to stop and see Angel. She really opened up to us and it was really great. We are excited to get to help her progress more.

Friday: Today was a great and busy day. We had lunch with Bro. McDuffie. We watched "None Were with Him" by Elder Holland. It was so good then we met with the Drahers, since they aren't on the road. We met with a new guy named Bill. He knows all kinds of stuff about the Church, so that was really cool. We aren't sure of his intentions, but he is a really nice guy then we met with Penny, she's doing great! We had dinner with the Shafer's. It was super good and they stocked us up on leftovers! We went and read the Book of Mormon with Angel. It was really good and she gave a super sincere prayer at the end. It was so awesome! :)

Saturday: Today we had a good lesson with Bro. Chowhan, we taught Stanley about prayer. Then we had correlation and lunch. That was really good. We did a lot of door knocking today. It was really good. We got a few potentials, so that was great.

Sunday: I found out on Friday morning that we have been asked to give a talk. It was on dedication to the Lord and building his kingdom. I want to give a special thank you to both of my Grandpas. As I was thinking and praying what to speak on, I was led to a portfolio that my Grandpa Green had given me a few days before I left on my mission. I had looked over it briefly, but not very much. In it there was a speech given by a Navy SEAL about 10 life lessons and it was exactly what I needed. In my talk I spoke on how doing the small things is how we can be truly dedicated to the Lord. I gave some examples, and one of them was of Elder Smoot and Anderson. I read to the Kalkaska branch the story that my Grandpa Chalmers shared at Bob Smoot's funeral. I'm thankful that I'm able to have that to read and reread and cherish. I love that story. Elder Houser also gave a really great talk. In Gospel Principles, Bro. Chowhan taught the lesson. Chris and Angel were there. He shared his conversion story, it was really cool, and the spirit was really strong. We had potluck today, so that was great. I got to meet one of the converts here who lives in Florida part of the year. She joined, met a guy and got sealed and is super solid. Her name is Sue. She said her stepson is serving in Concepcion. Do you know him Megan? We were able to have a lesson with Donna then I had to do call-ins. We were able to knock doors for a while and met a guy who was super knowledgeable about our church and we had a great discussion with him. We also met a Seventh-Day Adventist and my past experience of dealing with them really paid off and we taught him about the Spirit World, he really liked it! :) Then we taught Chris and Angel. It was another good lesson.

Today we have shopped and studied and that's about it. ha

My Spiritual thought goes right along with what I was able to speak on. As we do the small and simple things, such as pray morning and night, read our scriptures (both individually and as a family), go to church, magnify our callings and so forth, is how we can be dedicated servants of the Lord and build his Kingdom. Because 2 faithful missionaries were out working, my great-grandma was able to meet them and invite them over. It wasn't anything huge that they did but miracles came from their small act of faith in serving the Lord. The same can be true for each on of us! 

D&C 123:13-17: Therefore, that we should waste and wear out our lives in bringing to light all the hidden things of darkness, wherein we know them; and they are truly manifest from heaven—These should then be attended to with great earnestness. Let no man count them as small things; for there is much which lieth in futurity, pertaining to the saints, which depends upon these things. You know, brethren, that a very large ship is benefited very much by a very small helm in the time of a storm, by being kept workways with the wind and the waves. Therefore, dearly beloved brethren, let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power; and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed.

I love you all so much. Thank you for the prayers and support!

Love,

Elder Chalmers

A swing at an old rundown house in Kalkaska

Me, George and Elder Houser

Good Times in Northern Michigan

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

Me, VIrginia, Penny and Elder Houser

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

The District

Elder Elmer, who used to live in Santa Clara!

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

                                                                   The Bay in Traverse City

Weekly Planning

The Traverse City Zone

TEMPLE WEEK!                                                                                                March 23, 2015

This week we got to go the the Detroit Michigan Temple. It was an exclamation point on a great week!

Monday: Today we didn't have P-Day, which was a real change. We went to see a former investigator in Mancelona. We helped her do some home improvement stuff which was fun. We had a great conversation with her. She dislikes the belief of the Trinity more than anybody I have ever met, she did make a lot of cool points though. ha. We are going to meet with her in the next week or so, she's really cool. Then we knocked doors for a little while in Bellaire. We met up with Bro. Stevenson and had a lesson with John Tweedie. It was the Plan of Salvation, and it was solid. He believes everything and understands it really well. Brian McDuffie has given him like 10 different church videos and he's watched all of them. I love him, he's really humble and funny, especially in his circumstance. (He has ALS) Then we paid a visit to David Hoyt and then Debora Robb. Bro. Stevenson is a really funny guy, it was a good night.

Tuesday: Today was St. Patty's day! I had my special tie from G-Ma Chalmers, so no pinches came my way. :) We knocked all day. It was really fun. We took a lot of heel clicking pictures, they were sweet. :) We met a really cool lady named Michelle, who has some potential. We also met a guy who was just trying to push our buttons, that was frustrating, but Elder Houser was able to keep his cool better than me on that one. Good Companion. :) On a door, this dog was jumping all over me and it put a little hole in my jacket. I was furious. I vented to Elder Houser for about 10 min about how much I hate dogs and how I will never ever own one. (I'm my mother's son.) We had dinner with the Piatts. We had corned beef and cabbage, it was some good stuff. Then they gave us a hair cut. Elder Houser cut part of my hair, it was some fun stuff. :) 

Wednesday: Today we had district meeting in Kalkaska. It was on planning. It went well. Then we had lunch at BC Pizza buffet. Elder Reiswig was a beast! ha. Then we had Steve pick us up. We went and had quite a few lessons. We first taught Chris and Angel. Angel brought up her concern of how we say we are the one true church. Then we were helping her understand, and she had to go to work. Chris said her mom is really against it. Then we taught Chris the Word of Wisdom, he already had read about it online and is working on quitting smoking already, he's such a STUD! Then we taught Virginia about Priesthood keys and because she grew up in the RLDS church, she understands it all and is set to be baptized next month. We then had a sweet lesson with a former named Bill. We called him and he invited us to come back because he felt bad about how things ended with the last missionaries. He said he realized that following Christ is an everyday choice, it was cool then as we were talking he said he had a problem with the story of the Book of Mormon and how it was farfetched. So I told him to forgot what is the social norm and everything else he has been taught and told the story of Noah, Moses, and Christ. Then testified of them and that the former are prophets and the latter is the Savior. The Spirit was really strong, it was really cool. We are going to see him next week. Then we had scrip study class. Virginia, her son David, Steve and Debora were there. We read Alma 32, it was great then we ended up singing hymns together for about 30 min, we didn't sound good at all, but it was really fun, and the Spirit was there. :) One of those moments that you won't ever forget. :)

Thursday: Today Steve came and picked us up and dropped us off to teach John Tweedie. It was a great lesson. He is progressing really well and loves having us over. Then we helped Brian McDuffie do some cleaning since he has gout.. :( We had a lesson with Tiffany that went well, the kids were a little crazy, but not as crazy as usual. We later had a lesson with a guy we knocked into who is also a former. It was good, it's hard to tell his intent, but we will see... Then we had a great conversation with Steve. I love Steve. I LOVE HIM! 

Friday: TEMPLE DAY! President Hoover picked us up, and we drove the 3 hours down to Bloomfield Hills to the temple. It is tiny. It's right next to the stake center there which is about equal in size. It was so amazing though. Everything is on one floor. Elder Houser and I were fasting and it paid off, it was just what we needed. :) Then we ate some Culver's on the way home. We drove through Midland on the way home since Pres. Hoover joined the church there about 30 years ago. We stopped at the Tridge which was awesome! :) We planned the rest of the night. President Hoover is the coolest guy ever, I loved getting to go with him!

Saturday: Today was kind of rough. We didn't really have anything going on and it was a lot colder than usual. We did get to meet some cool people knocking and got some cool potentials. We met with Stanley and taught him the Restoration. We still can't get a good reading on him but the lesson went well. Lots of door knocking today...

Sunday: Church was good today. We had a few investigators at church. Sacrament was all on the Holy Ghost and we taught about Faith in Gospel Principles. President Hoover made a comment/testimony that was awesome! After church, we went up to Bellaire with Pres. Robinson. We took the Sacrament to Bro. McDuffie and read the BOM with John Tweedie, he's still doing great. We tried to see Penny but we can't find her since she went to the hospital which is rough. Then we met up with Steve and went to get Virginia. Her nephew does a Bible study/dinner at his house so we went to that. He is a dang good cook, it was a great dinner. The Bible study was also good. We shared Ether 12:27 that went right along with it all. :) Then we went to see Ken and Donna and following that we had a lesson with Chris. He said that he talked to Angel and she's really not interested anymore... :( That was rough. But we taught him the Law of Chastity. He understands it all and is going to talk to Angel about getting married. Chris is so solid, we love him. He loves to learn. Then Steve took us home, did I mention that I love Steve?! :)

This week was really good and my spiritual thought comes from some of the things I've studied and seems like has been coming up a lot lately. Here is one of the many scriptures to go along with all of this Alma 32:6 "He beheld that their afflictions had truly humbled them, and that they were in a preparation to hear the word." The beginning of the chapter talks a lot about how important it is to be humble. When we are humble that is when we are in the best situation to grow and progress in the gospel. So don't wait to be humbled yourself. Make the necessary changes and the Lord will take you and mold you into what you and He wants you to become. 

I love you all so much!

Welcome Home Megan! I love you! :)

Love,

Elder Chalmers

Detroit Temple

Heel Clicking Day!

Party Van with Steve.

Tridge Reunion

Temple

MIRACLE WEEK!                                                                                                 March 16, 2015

This was a great week in Kalkaska! We had a ton of really great and also some really funny experiences!

Monday: Today after P-Day had concluded we were running really behind on everything and we almost ran out of gas. Our GPS took us in the middle of nowhere so we were an hour late for dinner with the Cole's, but it all worked out. We were on trade-offs and Elder Houser still had the phone for Kalkaska and was heading down to Cadillac, so Elder Reiswig and I had to race them down, great way to start a trade-off. :) ha

Tuesday: Elder Reiswig and I had a solid day of trade-offs in Kalkaska. We had Steve Cole with us all day. It was the best. I find myself constantly laughing whenever I'm around Steve, he's the best! We went to see Charles and had the coolest lesson with him. We were reading Alma 32 with him and it just wasn't working so we just switched and read Alma 36. He was in the military and lost his faith because of the things he saw and did. So as we were reading it he grabbed a pencil and circled some of the verses and said "I can relate to that.... You're good at picking these scriptures." It shows how Alma was able to be delivered from his "inexpressible horror" and we related it to him. The Spirit was so strong it was cool to be a part of it all. We were knocking doors in Rapid City later and we helped this guy in a wheelchair who was trying to shovel. It was also 50 degrees today, it was heavenly. We were waiting for Steve to pick us up and a few doors earlier I saw this guy get out of his car and pointed him out and said, "He looks a little tipsy" then this guy came out and told us to come over to him. He asked if we were Jehovah's Witnesses and we said no, then he said "Are you Mormons?" So he was asking us questions like "Are God and Jesus One?" and all this stuff about grace, works and all that stuff. We invited him to read the Book of Mormon and left then he got in his car and followed us and kept harassing us, so I called Steve and he came and saved us. It was hilarious though. He sounded like he was on the verge of tears, he kept asking "Are God and Jesus one?" and we would say, "Todd, we already answered that question." It was memorable. :) Then we went to see Tiffany. Her boyfriend moved out, so that was great news. We put her and her daughter Alex on date to be baptized again! Then we went to see Donna. We had a good talk with her and let her know what our purpose is as missionaries, which was needed. We went out with Pres. Doug Thomas and with the Young's. We talked about Faith, Hope, and Charity. Then in the car back, we had a great conversation about what it means to "bear down in pure testimony" Great Day!

Wednesday: Today we went to Gaylord and had Zone Training. It was really good. Our Zone leaders and STL's trained on being more Christlike, teaching by the spirit and how to help investigators progress. After we came home we went to see Corey and the Smith's to set up appts. We went teaching with President Hoover today. It was so great! We met with the Hildebrands who are less active. Then we had a lesson with Penny. We talked about family history, temples and eternal families. She is all ready to be baptized. We are shooting for March 27th! :) We also went to see the Draher family. They were baptized about a year ago. They are prepping for the temple. They are truck drivers so they go to church wherever they are. I love President Hoover, he's the 1st councilor in the mission presidency.

Thursday: Today after studies we met with Jesse and read the Book of Mormon with him. We had lunch with the Piatts then did weekly planning. We got shined by a few people today, which was frustrating. We had dinner with the O'Neil family and did more planning. It was a pretty slow day.

Friday: We had lunch and a lesson with Bro. Rancour this morning. Then we met with the Zone Leaders and did a mini-trade-off. I went to Traverse City for the first time with Elder Krebs. It is such a cool city, right on the bay. I did my first baptismal interview for a guy named Dale Ealy. He was super solid and a really great guy. After we traded back we knocked doors for a little bit and then went to scrip. study class. We had a lot of people there and we read and discussed the Tree of Life, they all loved it! Then we had our branch activity, Family Game Night. We had a ton of investigators there, it was really cool. Elder Houser and I got worked at Scrabble by our 72 year old investigator Virginia. :) ha. It was a great night!

Saturday: Today was sort of slow. We taught Donna with Gary Piatt. That was good. We did a lot of knocking. We picked up a few potentials. We made a lot of phone calls and were able to get a few return appts with former investigators, that was really cool. We are actually going to help one of them with service right after this. :) 

Sunday: Today was a miracle day! We had 10 investigators at church...10! :) It was so amazing. We also had our branch presidency changed, so they all bore their testimonies, it was a great sacrament meeting. We had to move into the chapel for Gospel Principles because we had so many people. We taught about the Restoration and it was a good lesson. Priesthood was a great lesson on faith. After church we had a potluck. They do it once a month and we eat after church. All of our investigators stayed for it and were fellowshipped really well. Then we went with Steve and saw a guy in a wheelchair shoveling so we helped him out and are going to go see him later this week. :) Then I had to do call-ins and Elder Houser had a lesson with Steve. Later we went and taught Tiffany and her kids. Those kids are rowdy, so it was sort of tough. But Cody is now also on date! Then we taught Virginia and her son David. He came to church today. He enjoyed it. He is hesitant about investigating but he said he will come to scrip study class and hopefully our lessons with Virginia, so we will let the Spirit work. :) Then we taught Chris and Angel. His sister, Brittany, was also there for the lesson. We taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ and we could tell it hit her. So we asked her about her comment of freedom with repentance. We expounded on that and she started crying and is going to be at our next lesson. It was really cool. 

Today we don't really get P-Day, but we get to e-mail. But we are going to the temple with President Hoover on Friday so that is our "P-Day." We are super excited about it. It's been 9 long months since I've been able to go to the temple, that's too long..

My Spiritual thought for the week is Alma 30:9 "Now if a man desired to serve God, it was his privilege; or rather, if he believed in God it was his privilege to serve him" Most of the time, things come down to our attitude towards them. If you are doing something, like keeping a commandment because you know you're supposed to, but you withhold your heart, you are also withholding blessings from yourself. I testify that serving God truly is a privilege, and one that I'm thankful for everyday. Serve others, and serve God. It's the best decision you can make.

Love,

Elder Chalmers

Looking forward to Easter. (Guy who dances on the street to advertise something?) :) 

Half of our MTC District in Gaylord

The famous Trout of Kalkaska!

highway 88 on the way home from Bellaire

Trade offs with Elder Reiswig

KALKASKA 2.0                                                                                           March 9, 2015

Friends and Family! How are you all doing?! I want to thank all of you for writing me and for the prayers. They are definitely recognized and I really appreciate it!

This week was a really great week! We were having miracles left and right and it was so much fun to be a part of it and really see the Lord's hand in His work!

Monday: I spent a lot of P-Day cleaning up the the apartment. I "purged" that place. It's now livable then we went up to Bellaire ( I think of "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air every time we go there). We met up with Pres. Robinson, who's in the District presidency and saw Bro. Hoyt. Then we went to see Brian McDuffie.  He fed us a ton of ice cream. He split a carton three ways, with cookies and hot fudge, it was a lot, even for me. He was telling us about the referral that we were going to see with him later in the week. (more to come on him :)) 

Tuesday: Today we were going to knock and decided to try and stop by to see Charles. We met him last Saturday. He is a textbook Michigander. Big beard, wearing all orange, smoking. ha. He let us in though which he said he usually never does. He used to have a faith but lost it after the things he did and saw in war. So we spent like an hour throwing everything we had at him on why he should have a faith then we read Alma 32:27, about if he had a desire to even have a faith, we explained how we nourish the seed and then something clicked for him, he said, "I get it! You nourish the seed by reading the word!" It was really cool. The Book of Mormon always fixes things. :) We went out to Williamsburg and knocked. We met some cool people. It was freezing rain so we had ice on our jackets and name tags, it was pretty cool. We went out with our district president, Pres. Doug Thomas, nobody was home so we ended up having a lesson with him. He learned us something for sure! He said how keeping the Sabbath Day holy is one of the biggest struggles that we as a church struggle with then he showed us Isaiah 58:13-14, and then Deut 32: 7-14. They are worth a study to see the blessings available to those who keep the sabbath day holy! 

Wednesday: Today we had district meeting in Cadillac. It was my first time getting to lead District meeting. It went really well though. It was all on the Book of Mormon and how it, combined with the Spirit, is our most powerful tool in conversion, it was really good. :) I loved it. Then we had lunch at an asian buffet. On our way back we stopped by a less active, named Bro. LaForest. He is really cool and his wife told us their conversion story, which was also really cool then as we were trying to get to the place we had planned to knock I got the Jeep stuck since the snow on the side was packed down. We tried to get out for a while, but got ourselves more stuck then a truck came by and helped us out. I guess he heard us, but we were in the middle of nowhere! MIRACLE! :) Then we met with Jesse, a recent convert. After that we did scrip. study with Chris. He is still coming along really well and has a strong desire. He's awesome.

Thursday: Today we had a scrip study at our Branch president's house, Pres. Dan Thomas. His son and daughter-in-law from ST. George were there. She asked if my dad was the OB/GYN she said she had heard that is really good, but he's all booked up. Chalmers family represent! Even in Michigan. :) He taught us all about the Book of Mormon and it's purpose and the Priesthood, he's a genius. Then we went to Bellaire. We couldn't get any members to go with us so we had to move Penny back. But we did get to meet with the referral that Brian McDuffy gave us. His name is John Tweedy. He has ALS and is interested in religion. We had tacos with them, and got to know him better. It's a really sad situation, he really just wants it all to end but we know the Gospel can give him purpose. :) We were finally able to meet with Penny. She just gets it! We asked her about being baptized and she said that she would have to come to church, that would be her next step in finding out if this is really what she wants to do. We couldn't agree more. Then we did our weekly planning.

Friday: Today we had a couple of really good lessons. We taught Virginia who has been investigating for a while and comes to church. We taught the Word of Wisdom. At first she didn't agree with coffee but we talked with her some more and she accepted to live it! :) Then we taught Chris. That was a good lesson as well. Then we met with Ken and Donna. They have been investigating for a while but are hard to teach because their first missionaries were more friends than missionaries, so that's how they view us. They are cool though. Then we had to get an oil change so while that was happening, we knocked and picked up some cool potentials. We had dinner with the Shafer's. They made some dang good food! Then we met with Ruth. Everyone here calls me Alice because of Alice Chalmers of Chalmers tractors and she kept calling me that. The Piatts call us Alice and Doogie. :) 

Saturday: Today we knocked for a while. We met a lady named Edna who let us in and showed us her Santa Claus collection, she has over 2000 of them! We are going to teach her next week. We went out with Gary Piatt today and everybody shined us. Apparently that happens every time he comes with us so we went and watched some Bible videos with Debbie.

Sunday: Today was great! Penny and Virginia came to church with Steve Cole. President Hoover of the mission presidency was also back. He's the most spiritual guy I've ever met, he's the best! :) We had a great lesson on Christ's original church, and then Elders Quorum was also really good. After church I had to do call-ins then we went up to Bellaire. We went to see Steve. He is the funniest craziest guy I've ever met. You can't wipe the smile off your face whenever you're around him. He's Gander Steve. He was baptized 3 months ago. We then went to see John Tweedy and Brian. They took us out to see the airplane he's building and also to see Torch Lake, which is sweet! We had dinner with them and then Steve randomly came over and livened up the party. :) hah. We taught him the Resto then got to see Penny. She LOVED church and really felt the Spirit. She is really hot on how there is a "plan of happiness" and how she can be happy. We shared Mosiah 2:41. She is set to be baptized on March 21 and is super excited about it! :) We had such a great lesson with her! It was so exciting!

Today we went running! It's 40 degrees and heavenly! We worked out really hard after that. Life is Good! :)

My spiritual thought of the week is a scripture: Alma 26:36 " Now if this is boasting, even so will I boast; for this is my life and my light, my joy and my salvation, and my redemption from everlasting wo. Yea, blessed is the name of my God, who has been mindful of this people, who are a branch of the tree of Israel, and has been lost from its body in a strange land; yea, I say, blessed be the name of my God, who has been mindful of us, wanderers in a strange land." You can change the second "this" to "doing the Father's will". Isn't that how we should all be?

I love you all so much! 

Love,

Elder Chalmers

PICS:Elder Houser and I at Torch Lake

Kalkaska: Week 1

I've finally seen Lake Michigan! Well sort of, it's frozen, but I did see it! :)                        March 2, 2015

My first week in Kalkaska went really well. The first week of a new area is usually pretty tough, but I'm alive and feel like it was a good week, so you won't find me complaining. :)

Tuesday: Today I was able to e-mail and I also got to set up my missionary facebook account. I'm so out of the loop with technology, it's pretty funny. We knocked for a while and trekked through the deep snow up to people's doors. Sometimes I feel like it's a waste of time because every inclination is telling you that nobody is there, they are probably in Florida, but you never know, so we knock on them anyway. We taught Corey. He's about 30 and pretty cool. We taught the Plan of Salvation and put him on date to be baptized. We have 10 people on date to be baptized here in Kalkaska, it's awesome! :) It's a really successful area. We met a few of our other investigators, and talked for a little bit. Then we had a lesson with Chris and Angel. They are so solid. We had our district president with us (I'm in a district, not a stake up here in northern Michigan). They door knocked into them last week and Chris has such a strong desire, it's so awesome. The lesson was also great!

Wednesday: Today we went to Elk Rapids. It's right on Lake Michigan and is a really nice lake town. Because of that though, everybody is gone for the winter. We knocked for a long time and one guy even told us to not bother trudging through the snow to get to the doors. We said, "okay, thanks" then kept on doing it. :) We didn't get to talk to very many people but we got to know each other better. Elder Houser is a sweet guy. Then we went to Williamsburg to knock some more. It was so cold. We had a guy let us in though and he was cool. He is Catholic and we talked for a bit then we went to our scrip study class, but nobody showed up so we went to the Chowhan's. They are so cool. He's super into powerlifting and benches 400+ pounds! He's the happiest guy, you can't help but love Bro. Chowhan. 

Thursday: Today we went to Bellaire. (Fresh Prince status!!!) I got to meet Steve Cole. He's a really funny guy. He is a recent convert to the church. There is really no way to describe him, he's such a character. :) ha Then we met with a less active member. We were knocking and this big black guy named Tony let us in to warm up. He told us not to talk about religion. He was hilarious though. He was telling us to beware of the south because "they make you good food, then you wake up one day and realize you are married to a big, ugly, girl who beats you." And a lot of other stuff like that. He was something. ha. Then we had a lesson with Penny. She is a really cool investigator. She understands everything and is super solid. She has some health issues that hold her back, but she's so great! :) Then we did our weekly planning.

Friday: Today we met with a less active member and we had quite the discussion on drinking coffee. Justification is one horrible thing... He said he's going to try and quit though, so that was good. We also met with Jesse, he's bro Chowhan's bro, and is a recent convert. He's really cool. Then we helped an investigator help these people move. One of the guys there was named Psycho. So we asked him how he got that name. He said "I beat up 14 guys at once" we both laughed and he said with a straight face, "I'm serious." It was really funny. We had a lesson with a less-active who lives with one of our investigators, he came out of no-where. 

Saturday: Today we walked all day. We knocked down this really long street all day. We taught a lesson to some investigators who live on it that went really well. His name is Bob and we were talking about the Word of Wisdom and he was able to make sense of it, it was cool. It was like 20 and sunny, a really nice day. Then we did a lot of organizing of things at night. That was great. 

Sunday: Today was my first day in the Kalkaska branch. It's a little branch, but there are a lot of great people. Everyone was bearing their testimony, it was really cool. One lady in the branch has a granddaughter who I went to high school with! Small world. We taught Gospel principles and priesthood. It was good though. Then we taught Corey after church then I had to do call-ins. We went out with Pres. Thomas. We taught Penny and then Chris. It was really great. He is really smart, so we were talking in the car, that guy knows his stuff. Then we had dinner with the Piatts and then dessert at the Chowhans. She made these donut things that were insane! 

I got to talk to Elder Laing today and everything in Big Rapids is going great. Justin and Chantice both came to church and the whole McClure/Hardbarger family are on date to be baptized! I will get to go back for the baptisms when they happen! :) 

My spiritual thought for the week is really simple. Study the Book of Mormon and take Moroni's promise in Moroni 10:3-5. It is the keystone of our religion and knowing that it is true will give you a solid foundation for life. I know that the Book of Mormon is the true word of God and I know that that book can change anybody's life if they will take the time to read and pray about it.

I love you all so much, and wish you the best!

Love,

Elder Chalmers

Elder Rapp at transfers! I love him

My street address reminds me of Joe every time!