HAPPY HOLIDAYS BEAUTS!

Wowie I hope all of your Christmases were stellar because mine sure was!

We woke up early Christmas morning (aka normal missionary time) squealed a little bit and jumped on our beds and then went over to some of our fellow homie missionary's apartment to open presents!!

THANK YOU EVERYONE THAT SENT ME STUFF-- UGH SO MUCH LOVE!

And so much love for Skype; my heart is just so happy. 

Family Christmas 2015

This has been the best Christmas of my life thus far, no question. It was a wee bit weird not having a white Christmas but wow, I am so content with being out here serving the very man that we celebrate this time of year. 

I hope you all have a raging wild New Years Eve festivities :))))

Stay cute and I hope you all rededicate yourselves to following the Savior this next year and go to the gym more than just the first two weeks of January lololol

LOVE YOU CUTE PEOPLE~

xo, sis. chels zosia

HELLO BEAUTS!

Sweet Moses, I AM TWENTY!!! Thanks to everyone who made it so sweet! Love you all :)

The BIG 2-0

This week was so splendid wow. On Saturday we got to take my homegirl Gina to the LA
Temple!!!! She is someone that I have been working with since I got to Northridge. She was completely beaming the entire session and then after her endowments she got to be baptized for her daughter that died two years ago!

 I cried. She cried. It was out of this world neat.She will go back after the holidays to do her daughters endowments.

At the Los Angeles Temple with Gina

I can't really put into words how divine all of this is. During my studies this morning I just stopped and was really thinking about how this all just makes sense to me:

That we lived with God before this life. That He proposed the plan to us and we all chose to follow Him. That we are sent to earth to gain a body and to learn, grow, and progress in the gospel. That we have the opportunity on the earth to perform saving ordinances for ourselves and for those on the other side who are wanting to accept them so we can make promises with God and become more like Him. That this life isn't the end. It is only a small sliver of the plan, and if we endure it well, how we will be exalted on high and live an eternity of happiness. What's sealed on earth is sealed in Heaven and God always keeps His promises. I have such a firm faith that the Lord truly does walk beside us and that everything will work out as long as we follow him. The sting of death truly is swallowed up in Christ and his Spirit mends the broken heart.

This Christmas season out on the mission has been the greatest one of all. To really understand more fully the fall of Adam and Eve and because of that how we NEEDED Christ. How much his birth and earthy ministry and Atonement really did save us all from eternal sorrow and damnation. The reason for this season to me is to remember how much God loved us to send His son. How much Christ loved us to suffer the penalty for our sins. And how much that love illuminates in the reality of forever families through the ordinances in our sacred temples.

I hope more than anything else that you all know how much I love our Savior. How close He truly is to us all and I hope you all feel his love as you celebrate his birth.

HAPPY CHRISTMAS LOVELIES! :) Get krunk, pop some Martinelli's, and be nice to your family.

Peace and Blessings,

Sis D xoxox

Hello to All!

This week was full of tender mercies, sacred moments and spiritual insights. Some are too personal, but I do want to share these three:
* The other night we had a little time before curfew and our Homeless friend Bill is always at the bus stop around 8:30-9:30 PM, so we stopped by and he hadn't had dinner yet. We got him two hamburgers from McDonalds and dropped them by. We talked to him for a minute but had to get going so we said, "Okay, bye Bill....We Love You!" He looked down at his burger and just started crying. he said, "You're really good people. No one ever tells me they love me."
UGH SO MUCH HAPPINESS AND SADNESS IN MY HEART!

* So I woke up super glum friday for no apparent reason. I randomly got down in the dumps and my comp felt it too. I do this thing where I am in denial whenever I'm sad so my head pushes away reasons why I'm sad but my subconscience is the pits and makes me feel things. So I knew I was sad but I couldn't figure out why. After trying to write it out and pray... nothing.

After talking with Sis M... nothing.

I hate asking for blessings because.. I'm sometimes prideful, but I thought maybe God could tell me what's up more than I can figure out for myself. So we called over the Elders.

They tried to figure me out but too numb, so they laid their hands on my head and gave me a blessing.

WOW y'all, the priesthood is SO REAL.

I wish I could have locked all those words in a box in my brain to remember them forever. The Elders that came over know me pretty well. We're really good friends. 

My companion knows me pretty well. We are besties.

But none of them knew anything about Josh.

In my blessing it told me that my family is okay. Wherever they may be, even in the SPIRIT WORLD. It told me that sometimes people are physically taken away from us so they can spiritually be with us always. It told me specific things about HIM and I just couldn't hold back the tears.

I've never felt so close to heaven in a blessing before. I wish I could accurately describe it. I seriously felt like God was speaking straight to me and Josh was right there. 

I could see it. The priesthood is the most real and most powerful thing ever wow.

After that,  I told all of them what happened with Josh and we all cried and it was a good time.

God is so so so so so good my heart can hardly handle it.

* Our temple trip was Thursday and rocked my world.

The assistants and a few of us rode up in Bertha (the stylish mission van that smells like a barn) because we

couldn't get a ride (or we may have all not really tried so we could ride up together lol). It was so fun hahaha.

 The temple is so amazing. I love it so much. Typically we go in with a question to seek inspiration or what not but I really couldn't formulate an adequate question so I just tried to soak it all up.

My heart was so full throughout the whole session and we finally got to the Celestial room. I took a corner of the room away from all the missionaries and just talked to God. I told him I didn't really know what I was asking for but I needed something. I just sat there and tried to feel, something.

Ahhhh the spirit is so awesome. A flood of memories and tender times in my life flashed through my mind and my heart felt like it soaked up a truck load of love. That force is nothing I can convince myself to feel,

I know it was from God.

 Soon after one of my good friends, Sister A, waved me over and we had a little chat. I knew something was up. She told me about how she just didn't feel worthy to be in the temple. Not because she had done 

anything but because she felt inadequate. She said she felt that all throughout the session and then when she went through, the worker looked her in the eyes and smiled and said, "You're fine."

I told her that's how I think the end of our life will be. We will feel so inadequate to be in the presence of God but he will grab us by the hand and with a smile He will say, "You're fine."

After those words left my mouth,  I felt like I got punched in the heart.

Seriously, a physical burning in the bosom. Sister A just started sobbing and  I teared up.

It was REALLY neat. I LOVE THE TEMPLE SO MUCH.

 

Los Angeles Temple---I Love It!!

I love you All! Happy Holidays!

Love,

Sister Dohner

Thanks for the Christmas Cheer!

Hi lovelies!

One more week down = One week closer to CHRISTMAS!! :)

Man, I love December. I am so excited for Christmas out here on the mission!

Classic California Studebaker

So Sister Morris and I are spoiled and a member owns a few tree lots and so

they took us out Christmas tree shopping! We got lights from another member 

and S/O to Mom for the ADORABLE Countdown to Christmas Garland so WEEEEEE,

it actually kind of feels like Christmas even with sunshine and palm trees and short

sleeve shirts :))

We went out and took some prettttty adorable pix so let me or mi madre know if you

want a Christmas card! 

I love you all and spread some Christmas Cheer!! :)

Disgusting amounts of love,

Sister D :)

AYE ESE!

This week was just TERRIFIC. Seriously one of the best thus far!! 

I wish I could just gather this week of memories and feelings together and throw them in Dumbledore's bowl of memories so I could go back and relive it whenever but I guess I'll just mention a couple of the highlights for y'all: 

First things first, Thanksgiving ROCKED my world. We had district brunch then headed over to Bishops for lunch which was chill! After Bishops, we went over to the Bustos (family that got baptized last week) to help them put up Christmas and OH MY HEAVENS I LOVE CHRISTMAS!

We listened to Christmas music and it took THREE HOURS to put up their tree because hecka ornaments but wow I know what my plan B can be for a career. Best looking Christmas tree south of Santa's lair, for sure. And then we had Thanksgiving dinner over there with all their family. AHH I LOVE THEM SO MUCH. I seriously feel like they are family. Dinner was fabulous. Their family aren't members so they asked some questions and we had some great conversations with them. They are Columbian so I pulled some Spanish like, "voy a engordarme!!!!" and told a couple jokes in Spanish and they all laughed it was a good time. Nights like this make everything worth it. 

Putting up the Bustos Tree 2015

Also, my homegirl GINA!!! Holy smokes I love this woman. Recent convert of about 1 1/2 years. Her daughter OD-ed about 2 years ago and she has just been a mess. When I got here she was super less active--the missionaries before didn't even know what she looked like. But we lucked out my first week and snuck a lesson with her. We just clicked and we have had weekly meetings with her and she has come to church every week since. But listen here, this week SHE GOT HER TEMPLE RECOMMEND!!!!!

She wants me to escort her when she gets her endowments and wants to do her daughter's work soon as well. Ugh so much happiness!

There's no other way I can explain it, but that my heart physically hurts. It hurts a good hurt.

I don't know why God has blessed me with so much but I am sincerely soo grateful. 

Thank you all for all you have done for me and continue to do. I really don't feel worthy of all of this love. 

Have the greatest week ever everyone! And check out the new Christmas video!!

 

christmas.mormon.org #ASaviorIsBorn

In the words of Usher: "Peace out A down" (S/O to Tayva)

---Sis Chelsea Donner

PS my b-day is December 18th,  cough cough 

Hey there!

So this week was superrrrr good! 

Transfers were Tuesday so I got my new comp, Sister M, and I love her so much! Wowie, we are the dream team. She's from Kentucky and has been out a little over a year.

Transfer meeting is always a good time seeing my people. Afterward we had to run all the way back to the apartment in the other valley and grab something for a departing missionary and bring it to the mission home. Which was dope because we got to spend the night dining with Pres and living high lives-- because we are his favorites :)  

The work is actually picking up! A less active that I love so much (she is pretty much reactivated because she has come every week since I've been here) introduced us to one of her non-member friends and we are going to teach him and baptize him and he's going to make us ribs in the meantime so, win-win. But seriously he's super solid. He is a former investigator actually but said he'd love to sit in on the lessons again and we clicked because we both love BBQ and snowboarding, so wahoo, cross your fingers.

 

We also found a new investigator family that is so prepared I could scream. They are former investigators as well and the dad is like 7ft tall so that's cool in itself. We stopped by and shared a little nugget of how families can be together forever and he was like whoa okay ya come teach us; so that was neat. 

Oh and another person I love so much is this homeless guy named Bill. He always chills on this bench and we're homies, so we go and teach him when we have extra time and man, he is a miserable human. It makes my heart hurt so bad but I want to continue to teach him and bring hope back into his life. 

Yesterday was the Bustos baptism!! They are a family in our ward that the elders have been teaching and we love so much. The service yesterday was superb and the spirit was so strong. They are incredible and we're going over for Thanksgiving dinner so hollabackgirl-- they rock and they're from Columbia :)

Pretty much I love these people so much and God is so good. Missionary work is a funny thing because it is the most joy I have ever felt and the most pain I have ever experienced. It is pretty much an emotional roller coaster but it's the greatest work I could ever be enlisted in for the greatest cause in the world.

 

"Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding, in all thy ways acknowledge him and He shall direct thy paths." 

I love you all more than boba.

 

--Sis. C Dohns

 

 

Aye homie G Wagons! 

This week was a PILL, let me tell you bout it.

 So much nutso craziness went down, quite literally every day this past week. Funny crazy to scary crazy... it was one for the books for sure. I'll just share one of the funny stories though, in a minute.

First things first, Transfers are tomorrow! I am staying in Northridge ... HALLELUJAH PRAISE THE LORD! I love this area so much! Even though it's so dead and people are difficult, haha I love it. I hear my new companion is dope so I'm pumped for this next transfer :) It starts tomorrow!

I got some treats!

Ha funny, totally not spiritual, story. Tuesday night:

So I was in the shower. And I was shaving my legs and cut my ankle pretty bad, and if you know me you know how bad I do with blood. It was just white at first but when I had to peel the skin out of the razor I knew it was pretty bad.

I had just conditioned my hair so I was trying to keep water on my cut (so it wouldnt bleed everywhere) and continue to wash out my hair and give myself some mad pep talks about how it's fine and I'm tough and it's all good...

Well ya no, I straight up passed out. 

I didn't hit my head or anything so it's fine but when I got my vision back and felt decently stable I tried to quickly turn off the shower, kind of, and I wrapped myself in my towel real speed-like and put a little bit of toilet paper on my ankle in just enough time to make it out of the bathroom onto the bedroom floor. Hahaha. and ya pretty much the story ends by me calling in my comp saying,

"Uh hey this is real awkward cuz i'm definitely just wrapped in a towel,  but I'm passing out and I need you to come fix me"

Ha so she did and it was good times.

Spiritual thought:

There's lots of heavy stuff to be said about this week but I just want to keep it at this:

"And in that day shall be heard of wars and rumors of wars, and the whole earth shall be in commotion, and men's hearts shall fail them, and they shall say that Christ delayeth his coming until the end of the earth"

Hold fast to what you know. It's only going to get crazier. We cannot afford to loosen our grips on the rod that will unfailingly lead us to the love of God and eternal life. Look up these talks:

1. Safety For the Soul by Holland and 2. Living a Christ-Centered Life by Maynes are gold.

San Fernando Mission!

I love you all. Stay strong in the gospel and Do not lean on your own understanding. Lean on God.

Much love,

Sister C Dohner

Hey what's good my people?

It feels like this week almost didn't happen it went by so fast, but it was sooo good!!!

We aren't teaching mass loads of people right now so that's a little rocky but we have two super solid gals getting ready to be baptized pretty soon! But other than that, we're pretty much taking the town by storm and just tryna give people Jesus! 

A few days ago we were in Knockout (knocking door to door from  4-6 PM 'eryday) and we ran into this old man that was trying to bash us but really didn't know what he was talking about. Usually I get out of bashes pretty quick but there was something about this guy that made me want to stay. So we stayed. And just listened. He went on for a while and I paused him and just told him to listen to me and I bore my testimony. I kind of felt like I was casting pearls before swine because he really didn't listen, so we started walking backwards trying to leave. He looked at me deeply in the eyes and just said, "I am a miserable man" and started sobbing. And he told us that his wife died 6 years ago and how he cries everyday because of it. Holy smokes guys my heart broke into 3043534 pieces because I could seriously feel the misery of this man. I had the knowledge of the only thing that could heal him, and he would not soften his heart to listen.

The next day we ran into a woman the same time of day that cried to us too due to her sorrows in life. We had a nice conversation with her and I truly felt like we had been long time friends. Sis S and I both bore our hearts to her and I seriously started tearing up when I was talking to her because the spirit was so strong. But yet, her heart was too raw from her hardships to let herself be healed. 

 

These two people really made my heart hurt but caused me to ponder...

Why is it so hard for us to let ourselves be happy? To let the pride of our hearts hold us back from moving forward? To let the Atoning blood of Christ heal us?

Why is having faith in someone that can literally wash away our pain so hard for us? 

 

It helped me see the significance of understanding and living according to the will of the Father. It helped me reflect on the immense amount of blessings I have received with the knowledge of the gospel and the fruits of that knowledge. It helped me feel an ounce of what Alma and the Sons of Mosiah felt when their hearts broke for their brethren. I got a taste of why they gave up everything to go and to preach to the sorrowed hearts of the people that dwindled in disbelief because they knew the souls of the Lamanites were precious.

Missionary work breaks my heart in half but it's also the greatest joy in the world.

Jesus is good people. He is the only way. 

I love you all almost as much as Joe Banditos chips and salsa!

Love, Sis CZ Dohner

This week was a 360. Drop dead stellar.

We had Zone Conference on Wednesday which was unreal. It was half of the mission so it was good to see all my homies for sure. But at a couple points of the (9 hour) meeting it was just straight revelation after revelation I swear my hand was twitching by the end. The spirit was so incredible!!!!

Here's a couple things the Holy Ghost told me that I thought was pretty cool:

-Faith is power. Faith is power because what we put our faith in is all powerful. If we understand the nature of God, the timing of God, and the reason behind weaknesses, our faith should never falter in the midst of hardships. My homeboy President Eyring once said something like, "The foundation of faith must be embedded in our hearts or the power to endure will crumble." (love that man) 

-Trials are seriously a blessing. We want God to trust us but when He sends us what we think are trials or hard things it really is that He trusts us on the new plane of tasks to accomplish. Like Nephi, he was asked to do hard things back to back to back... on an upward slope of progressions and accomplishments. So TOGETHER they accomplished much good-- even though it wasn't smooth sailin'. It isn't anything we do that qualifies us for the work but it is what God can accomplish THROUGH US that is why he requires much from us. 

Hard things and trials are the biggest blessing God can give us. They are not a punishment. They are proof that God trusts us and sees us on a higher playing field.

So ya good stuff.

We saw a lot of little miracles this week so I want to share one. 

We were calling up this investigator that the elders in our ward gave us like a month ago. We didn't have any luck getting in contact with him because elders' handwritting is awful and we thought it said 9 but it was a 4...

So we figured that out and called him and he answered! We asked him if he wanted to meet with us and learn more about Jesus and.... he laughed and hung up... cool. I was just laughing because people are savages and it's hard to love them sometimes. But then right after that we got a call. 

A couple weeks earlier we got a referral from Church Headquarters that someone requested a Book of Mormon! We tried by their house 3 times with no luck so we left the Book of Mormon with a note and our number. 

She actually called us, booya. She's 19, has 0 religious background, and has a friend on a mission in South Korea so she wanted to check out what Mormons are all about. We went by Friday and she had already read the intro, testimonies, and the first 4 chapters! We taught her the Restoration and talked about the Book of Mormon and how she can know it is true. It was pretty dope and she's super ready, so holla :) She's in YSA age but we hecka don't want to give her up so we're going to snatch her up and teach her a little longer (lol oops)

This week was rad and God is so so so good people. Also a good week because Halloween is approaching which is THE BEST HOLIDAY!!! So have the best week and spook little kids' out and eat massive amounts of sugar for me! 

Love you all mucho,

Sister C Dohner

 What's Good my Neighbas!

 

So these past weeks have been some of the hardest but most cherished of my mission--and maybe my life.

My last area was happy Mormon Valley with nice things oozing out of their ears and with people treating us like royalty and a pretty consistent feeling of love and familiarity. We rolled into my new area with bums on the corners, Budweiser factory off the exit, inappropriate billboards by our apartment and a California State University across the street. Ya I don't quite feel like the Great and Spacious building is across the street anymore... the iron rod is going straight through it.

THANK YOU SR/Valencia Area!!

 

I've had a hard couple of weeks, I won't lie. And training a new missionary again means there's eyes on me always. I always have to be an example and have a good attitude and I don't want to show weakness or ask for help. Which is hard when the reality of everything hits you square in the eyeball and you don't even have raw steak to soothe the swelling. So, I am truly learning what sincere prayer really means. I have spent A LOT of time on my knees-- because He's all I got.

I have a lot to say but a lot of it is really sacred to my heart so I will save it for another time but I do want to share a few scriptures that turned my whole attitude around..

John 16: 12,22,33:

12 I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.

22 And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you.

33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

I have a sure testimony that God is mindful of every person and that He truly does show His love for us continually. We may not have all the answers now, but I find comfort in the constant assurances that the Man I put my faith in does know and cares for me enough to send His son to feel all of my pains so I would never feel alone. I have felt and I continue to feel the physical manifestation of the Holy Ghost, The Comforter, in my being and I know it is sent from my Father in Heaven to help me understand His love.

Oh and I met a Holocaust survivor last week and she told us some stories and she kissed my cheek. It was a good time. She's 90 years old!

I love you all so so so much and I really do feel your prayers. Thank you for being beauts. Have a fab week!

Love,

Sister Chelsea Dohner 

Cheers to the Mortensen/Framptons. Here's my Caramel Apple Cheer to you!

 

YO HOODRAT GIRL IS GOIN TO THE VALLEY!!!

Transfers are nuts. And especially nuts this time around because President is mixing the Spanish and English into the same zones and changing a lot of the areas! So due to that I will be white washing a new area down in the valley and training a new missionary :) #smilyfacebutactuallystressed

It's sad to say bye to the SR (Stevenson Ranch). I've seriously met some of the best people in the world and made life long friendships with the people here. I can truly say that the mission doesn't need me, I need the mission!

It's all sorts of sadness and anxiety, but I am excited for a change :)

This week was a whirlwind.

I gave my last Zone Training in Valencia on what qualifies us for the work and spiritual gifts.

I just had a scary prompting of having Sister F. and I start the training by pointing out all of our struggles and weaknesses... We went back and forth and mentioned about 3 or 4 really personal struggles we face and how God knows we struggle with that. Then we talked about how God knows ALL of our shortcomings, weaknesses, and obstacles that get in the way but He still calls us to the work. I think at times we try to make excuses or try to counsel God on what we think we can handle but really, He knows. He is aware. And that is why He pushes us to become better and recognize and develop the spiritual gifts He has given us. Then we went around and wrote everyone else's spiritual gifts that we see in them... sounds like in Mean Girls when they do the confession/trust/fall exercise but it really was cool I promise-- hahaha. 

And ya we all know General Conference was swag so I don't need to mention anything else but ARE YOU KIDDING ME-- WE ARE LED BY THE BEST MEN!! That's a testimony in itself that this Church is true. I am excited to re-read and study a lot of the amazing talks given to us from God through His chosen servants. 

 

I want you all to know that I love being out here. I don't love being out here because it's all fun and definitely not because I'm teaching a lot and then immediately seeing the effects of my mission-- because I'm not. I love being out here because I love the person I am becoming. I love being tried every single day in order for me to remember how much God loves me through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I love being out here because I am set apart from the world and get to focus on what really matters. I love being out here because I get to strengthen my testimony on the first two Great Commandments. It's hard, but it's worth it.

I love you all~

Your Fav Sista Missionary

Happy Week my Friends!

Greg's baptism went 100% perfect. Wow, it was incredible. What a man.

He wanted me and Sis B to be a part of the program and share a missionary moment. So we shared the Gospel of Jesus Christ (3rd lesson) and wow I was shaking in my boots because there were all sorts of missionaries and our mission president and the assistants were there-- so glad that part is over! But the actual baptism part and his testimony was out of the park great!

He talked about how he was in the "big building" across the treacherous river and midst of darkness looking upon the ones below and now he has finally taken a grasp of the iron rod towards the Tree of Life and has never felt more clarity and joy. I thought it was pretty neat he used his whole testimony referencing to           1 Nephi 8.

Then Women's Conference was super. It made me really reflect on virtue.

I think a lot of times the Holy Ghost is talked about to be with us when we're doing good things and not with us when we're doing bad things-- black and white. But I think it's a little more complex than that.

I find myself letting my thoughts linger in holy places but thoughts that are distracting as to what the spirit wants me to know right then and right there.

It's a tricky thing to focus in the moment and "let virtue garnish [our] thoughts, unceasingly" but I'm coming to realize that I need the Holy Ghost in my life more than anything.

It is the way God communicates to us. It is the way we feel of His love. It is the way we are comforted, guided, and warned of the prevalent dangers in these last days. And the way we qualify ourselves for that guidance is by pure and virtuous thoughts and actions and intentions.

(Missionaries LOVE packages!)

 

Missions are hard. Life is hard. There is no denying that.

But I have the strongest testimony that when we reach the end of our lives and see the glory that is reserved for us, we will look at the Almighty with awe and ask him, "Was that ALL that was required?"

 

I have so much gratitude for the Lord's hand in every single detail of my life. I really am so blessed. 

I love you all more than soft pretzels and blue raspberry nerd slushes!!

xoxo,

Sister Dohner

 

 

 

Good day Family, Friends, and Fans!

This week was all sorts of good but mostly I want to talk about one of our investigators because he is out of this world awesome. 

It's a funky situation but a good one. He lives in our area but he's dating a member in a different area so we team-teach him with the elders of that ward (which has been super dope because one of those elders just happen to be one of my best friends on the mission!)

This is a little of his story:

So the elders started teaching him and he continually expressed how he just wants a sign. He wanted God to show him that the things they taught were true. The elders explained to him that it doesn't work like that and he needs to put his trust and faith in God. That didn't really satisfy him.

A couple days later it was about 5 am and he couldn't sleep. So he decided to pray. 

He offered a humble prayer asking God if he truly was there and if this really was the path that He wanted him to take. 

Right after he ended those words the fire alarm went off. Three times. 

He said each time he got the unmistakable impression that God was telling him: Greg. You know these things are true. Greg. You know these things are true. Greg. You know these things are true.

Greg is getting baptized on Saturday!

In our lesson with him a few days ago, that left me holding back a load of tears, he expressed to us that he was mad. He was mad he didn't know about these teachings before. He was mad he didn't teach his kids with these standards. And he was mad he spent 50 years of his life without these blessings. He told us in his whole life he has never been so happy as he has in these past 5 weeks; that he finally knows what it's like to be happy.

Wow my heart is so happy. I can't believe I have been so blessed to be trusted by the Lord in having a front row seat in watching hearts change and truly come unto Christ.

I see miraculous things every single day and I cannot imagine a life without letting God's love guide me. 

I love you all and I hope you all are loving life!

xoxo Sister Dohner

 

 

Hey cute people,

This week was wild. Up and down crazy.

We picked up a new investigator that is super solid! 

She is 14 and is adorable. We taught her the restoration

on the doorstep a couple weeks ago and she then had us 

over to teach her the Plan of Salvation last week. 

Wow the spirit was so strong! We ended with watching 

BecauseHeLives and she said she felt so much peace. 

The room felt on fire the spirit was so strong!

Our poor 76 year old investigator had a stroke so that was not good.

We spent the last half of our week in the hospital singing 

Primary songs to her and painting her nails... I don't like hospitals.

Poor woman is just trying to get baptized! Pray for her!

Something that really stuck out to me this week was the importance

of the first commandment: Love God.

The love that God requires isn't a selfish love- for Him to receive more

recognition or more power- but that love helps US. That love refines us.

If we love God, we will keep his commandments. If we don't love God

with all our "might, mind, and strength", we wouldn't do what we do, 

sacrifice what we sacrifice, and obey with a full heart of faith. When we

love God and do what he requires of us, that in return blesses us more 

than we could ever earn on our own. 

I do what I do because I love the Lord. I love people out here but alone,

that love wouldn't be enough to keep me out here. I stay out here because

I love God so much and that love helps me understand why He sent me here.

I am learning so much and my eyes are opened to so many miracles-

I know you all can experience the same if you only put your full faith

in God and love him with your whole heart.

Stay classy babes!

-Sister Dohner

 

 

 

Hello beautiful people of America + beyond~

This week (from Wednesday-now) was superb!!

My first Zone Training Meeting was a success! I didn't sleep like at all two nights before but...minor details. I was nervous because there are some pretty stellar missionaries in my Zone that have been out for quite some time...and who am I to be counseling them 3 months out? But my favorite one came up to me afterward and pretty much praised our training and made me feel like a million bucks so wahoo! I didn't mess it up!

Sister Fausett and I trained on goal setting and how we have to have a desire and a vision to flourish our areas in the way the Lord requires of us. I can't reiterate all that it was about because it was purely by the Spirit and not me so that's always an awesome feeling! 

Also Saturday we hit up the Los Angeles Temple for Sister B's Birthday! 

First off we had the best week because hello, birthday week! And everything she did or got, I pretty much got it too so... Happy bday to me too ;) 

Beautiful LA Temple

The LA Temple is outrageous. I have such a tender portion of my heart for it considering my cute parents were married there. I feel the strength of my family there so strong. 

In preparation, I came with a couple questions hoping to be answered in the course of our endowment session and ,I learned a lot. It is amazing to see the power of the Lord reaching into the desires of our hearts and caring enough to give us comfort. I couldn't say I necessarily got answers but prayerfully sitting in the celestial room I started to really seek out what God would have me know right then. 

A crazy thing happens when you open your heart up to God. 

My heart burned. I felt like my body mass doubled because my heart was so full.

So much gratitude and comfort knowing that God knows what He's doing. He's got it under control. We must not doubt or fear because that is when faith falters. 

I hate opening up. I hate feeling. I hate it. But I'm continually learning that it's okay to let ourselves feel. Everything hit me at once during fast and testimony meeting and the water works flooded. I embarrassingly wiped about a 1/2 gallon of tears off my face. But as my mom wrote to me quoting from Alma 28 "their sufferings in the land, their sorrows, and their afflictions, and their incomprehensible joy" 

Life is hard- trials are real. But there is no doubt that I have so much joy in my heart. The knowledge that this gospel gives elevates me to incomprehensible joy and gratitude, there is no denying that. 

The power of prayer is so real, my friends. Always remember that. 

I love you all! 

Have the best week!

-Sister Chelsea Zosia Dohner

HELLO MI FAMILIA Y AMIGOS!

Whoa this week was so nuts and my mind blew up from all the SEVEN meetings I went to but man, it was a good one! 

We had transfer meeting which was super fun seeing all my bffs and the newbies. 

And I love being a sister training leader, woof. My zone are ROCKSTARS! We give Zone training meeting tomorrow and eek I'm nervous but I am so excited to be a mouthpiece for the Lord. 

My BFF Elder J

 

So a couple cool experiences:

One of our investigators is 76 and has a lot of health issues so we arranged a healing blessing for her. She occupies like half of my heart, I love this lady so much. We gave a mini lesson at the beginning talking about the healing power through the priesthood and then talked about the importance of baptism. The blessing was meant to be a healing one but it was so much about how pleased the Lord is going to be with her when she gets baptized and I don't remember like any of it but I remember my heart felt like it could have exploded! We concluded with a prayer and she said it. She said the sweetest prayer and said 'I hope I can get baptized in September maybe, I hope so'. I love her so much I get teary-eyed when I picture her getting into that font. I cannot wait for the day. We're shooting for the 26th. Ah I cannot wait.

Another sick thing that happened was we had a mall booth. Us and a couple other sets of missionaries and our ward mission leader took shifts throughout the night on Saturday and talked to people coming out of the movie theatre. A lot of people avoided us, and we had some bashers, but of course the very end of the night came the miracle. A lady and her daughter came out of the theatre because her daughter couldn't sit still. She came up to us and said she has some really good Mormon friends. Sister Fausett (my STL comp) talked to her for like 30 minutes about pretty much everything. She loved everything and asked all about baptism and wants to watch one! AH! Prayers are real my friends. 

Also Elder Hamula from the 70 came and spoke to us for two days and presided in our Mission Leadership Counsel. He is super dope and I love his wife. I learned so much so I won't include a lot but I will say this personal revelation from my journal...

Revelation 12:11- "And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death."

'We defeat Satan now by forgetting ourselves. We lose the fight when we take our eyes off of the work and focus on our deficiencies. Satan focuses so much on the  selfishness- don't fall into that trap.' It is so easy to become selfish and to focus on what we are and what we are not. But a funny thing happens when we focus more outward, we become those things inward. That is something I really am going to work on. 

Also a small shoutout to my mom and dad. I have a great testimony of prayer thanks to you. You have taught me by example to drop to my knees in the greatest and hardest times and I wouldn't know the significance of that relationship with my Savior otherwise. I know you have been praying for me so hard my whole life and now I am on a mission. I am on a mission because the Lord touched my heart, not because I am that good of a person. So thank you for all the prayers sent my way to unlock those blessings that were and are conditional in God blessing me with them through the act of prayer. 

I LOVE YOU ALL THAT READ THIS BECAUSE THAT MEANS YOU HAVEN'T FORGOTTEN ABOUT ME! STAY CUTE FRIENDS 

-Sista Dohner

Hello world.

This week was.. (heart eye emoji)

SO GOOD. Transfers are on Wednesday so that means transfer calls were on Saturday. Such a scary day. We held our breath and avoided the phone like the plague. But low and behold we got a call. Luckily Sis. B and I are both staying in Stevenson Ranch :) and I finally hit my 12 week mark! 

But a slight catch, President called me and asked me to be the Sister Training Leader! Woof. I am so excited to serve and teach my Zone!

(Sister Training Leaders-STL's is pretty much like Zone Leaders but for sistas. So we go to meetings with President and then hold Zone Training Meetings with the Zone Leaders to teach and instruct our Zone! Zones are a compilation of a few Districts. There's about 5 English Zones in my mission.)

#pumped #scared

We had a great week! We will hopefully be holding a baptism on September 19th so pray for that! It's two little boys 9 and 11 :) and the older brother is 15 and is going to be baptized as well but he lives in the elder's area! 

But the coolest thing happened. So my comp and I were going to stop by our cute 76 year old investigator's home when we ran into a guy. He stopped us and remembered we talked to him before. He pretty much just laid out how he doesn't like how his life is and he really needs help. We taught him about baptism and when he gets baptized he will be washed of his sins and God will remember them no more. He was like.... wow okay that sounds good. So we're going to have a member pick him up for church next week and hopefully start teaching him this week :) Crazy how sometimes God just hands you people he has prepared, it's just up to us to listen to the spirit and recognize His hand.

Sis B and I randomly got slapped in the face with a cold this week. Being sick wrecks lives. But it's okay because we are almost all better. It was so funny though because we thought it was allergies at first so we took allergy medicine- the kind that makes you tired. We had to go knocking doors from 4-6 PM-- hahaha, I wish someone filmed us. We were slurring our words to everyone and just could not focus. Some guy just paused and laughed at us. Ya, we didn't get any new investigators that day. Haha but it was an interesting one. 

Yesterday we discussed "Having Good Intentions".  It is not enough to just have good intentions. But to ACT in faith and to accomplish much good with God on our right hand and a consistent prayer in our hearts. Something I've really thought about since I first became a Beehive was the division of religion vs our "normal" day lives. I've come to realize that there is not a division. This gospel of Jesus Christ IS our life. This is why we are here. Not to just have a good intention of doing good in this world but actually DOING IT. I have come to hate excuses. They're stupid. So just do good, be good, and don't justify your actions. I will be working on that as well. 

LOVE YOU SCOUNDRELS! I feel your prayers every single day and I love you for it. 

God bless.

-Your fav sister missionary

 

 

 

Hi lovelies!

Another day, another dawn. That is my life!

This mission is flying by. Transfers are next week already and

a bunch of my bff's are leaving me to go into the real world. 

Sad for them. My area in CA rocks!

This week was super bomb because Sis. B and I are working super

hard trying to flourish our area like crazy. Last week I had this 

vision of how the area needs to be and how to get there and 

we are super pumped to crack down and fulfill the Lord's promise.

Something I have been realizing is we are fully responsible for the 

salvation of the people in our area at this time. It is by God's timing 

that all things come to pass but our efforts have no excuses. We 

are not only responsible to bring non-members unto Christ but Less-actives,

Recent converts, and members as well. We are literally in charge of

reaching out and strengthening every single humans' relationship with

Christ in our area. That could sound overwhelming but man, I see such

incredible potential in this area and I'm excited to get the people there.

We have been teaching like mad and being led to so many sick people.

Yesterday we were at a stop light and there were some punk kids next to

us so we were like, hmmm they need Jesus. So we went on a

chase in our 2010 Toyota Corolla to catch up to their Mustang! Sis. B 

got out and ran up to them and gave them a Jesus card and told them that if 

they're cool they'll call us to learn more. No fear Ladies and Gents! Spread the 

good word everywhere. 

We're currently trying to convince Prez to let us go 

to Six Flags and contact on rollercoasters but idk we might just have to contact

with some otter pops outside of the park instead :/

"Peter walked on water until he remembered he didn't know how. "

Never lose sight of who is keeping you above water and never falter your faith.

When you start to sink, remember who you're following.

I love you all and I love the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Read Romans 8:18, it's good.

Stay cute and eat your fruits and veggies.

Love, Sister "LongDohns" 

(my name out here lol)

Another week down! This week flew. 

We went on exchanges with the STL's after Zone Training Meeting on

Thursday and it was bomb. Sister Fausett came to my area: beautiful Stevenson

Ranch and we had a thrill of a time! Ran into a lot of potentials and had a really 

awesome lesson. We have an investigator that is struggling with bad spirits so

that's always a little shady but our lesson went incredibly well and I learned

a lot. Satan is so real wow. But God never leaves us comfortless. (If anyone 

is struggling with bad spirits, write me because I have some good things to say.)

Honestly, the beginning of the week was bad. It was hard. But the exchange turned

us around. Sister B and I had a good heart to heart and we are just so high on

life right now :) 

We found over 20 new investigators last month and they all disappeared... hahaha like no

joke. We can't find them. But we have tricks up our sleeves so hopefully I'll have some

good stories soon. 

(One Month Companions)

 Saturday was bomb. We practiced teaching a member family the Plan of 

Salvation after dinner on Saturday. It was super good and then turned into a deep

doctrine chat about the Plan and wow it was good. God is so merciful. Having the 

knowledge that God is in charge and He really has a plan for each and every one of 

us hits me good in the heart. When I first found out about Josh it hurt. It hurt really bad.

But not one second did I doubt God. We are not in charge. God's timing is perfect. 

He knew that was going to happen from the beginning. It was what was supposed to

happen and I find comfort in that.
 I know God prepares us for our trials. Some seem to

have "more" or "harder" trials than others but that doesn't mean God loves us any less

or that someone needs the Atonement more than anyone else. We all need the Atonement

equally. Christ didn't suffer for us in the mass; but He suffered for us individually. As if we

were the only man on earth. I truly believe that. 

I hope you all know that I have a tender testimony of Jesus Christ's Restored gospel on 

this earth. This is the key to happiness I promise you. God is good and Christ conquered 

death so we could make it home.

I love you all so dearly and I pray for you everyday.

Be Still and know He is God.

xo- Sister D :)

Happy Monday Funday!!!!!

This week was rad because we got a STEEZY BAPTEEZY!!!! Baptism on Saturday!!

Whoa man what a feeling. 

Our convert bore his testimony afterward as well and woof.  What a man!

There was a way good turn out including our bishop, stake president, mission president, and lots of missionaries and ward members! The spirit in that room was thick. 

Here are some pictures :)

 

Love you all and keep it frosty.

Write me! chelsea.dohner@myldsmail.net
Love,
Sister Dohner

Hey fans.

Just another week in the life. Not too much craziness went down this week but it was still rad none the less. My comp is super dope and will be training in no time. 

We had "One Week" which was a meeting with the Prez and other important people for the newbies and trainers. It was so good. I love President and Sister Henrie with my whole heart. They are the coolest. Meetings like those get me on a roller coaster of emotions because at one point I'll be so pumped to get out and baptize the world and then a minute later I'll be recognizing how much I need to learn as a missionary haha. But it was good! Plus I got to see my BFF in the mission, Elder Black. He was my Zone Leader but basically trained me, so we're super tight.

This week we met a couple people during "Knockout" that are so ready for the gospel. One in particular is Andrea. She's 14 and is the coolest girl ever. We shared with her parts from the Restoration and she asked what more she could do to come closer to Christ. Like okay girl, I'll tell you what you can do! So we talked about following in his footsteps completely, including being baptized. And how she can know for herself that that is what she should do by praying and acting in faith. Then she asked us for a BOM! Not much more you can ask  from a door contact. We are meeting with her again tonight :) 

We are preparing for our homeboy Richard's baptism on Saturday! YEAH BOY! Pray pray pray for him! I'll letcha all know next Monday how it went down! :) But we met with him and his cute fam yesterday and lessons are easy with them because they're all members but Richard and even he has the strongest testimony-- so they're practically member lessons. (And he's been taught the lessons four times so..) Anyway we decided to talk about the Atonement. We started off sharing BecauseHeLives and went around and had everyone share what about the Atonement touches them personally. It was super cool especially to hear the little kids testimonies. The room felt like it was on fire! The spirit was so strong. Then we shared a poem that Sis.B's friend sent her and wow I got choked up when I read it. The Atonement is so real. We can't fully comprehend how, but all I know is it works. My heart is so grateful.

Well cuties, I love you all and I hope you all know that I love this work. God is so great and is in the details of our lives if we only step back and notice Him.This morning I flipped to John 13 when Christ insists on washing the feet of his apostles. At first they refuse because he is Jesus Christ but then he says if they will not let him wash their feet then they are not of him. So then they ask Christ to not only wash their feet but their hands and heads also. I never really understood the lesson to learn from this story. I always just thought that was them wanting to be obedient to Jesus but this morning I thought it is likened to the Atonement. If we refuse to let Him wash our sins, it is us not accepting his Atonement. But if we let him wash our sins, we don't want to just have him wash part of our sins, but all of them. Head to toe. We really should be working on using the Atonement daily. Repenting daily. Using each day to develop a relationship with Him. That's something I'll work on.

Peace and Blessings lovelies,

Sister Dohner

 

 

MAKE IT RAIN~

Well this week has been wild. 

Here in California, there is a massive drought but hold your breath because IT POURED THE PAST TWO DAYS!!!! Hopefully we'll continue to inspire the clouds to make it raiiinnnn.. ;)

Our new prez has the entire mission knocking 4-6 PM. Not before, not later. No exceptions. No appointments. No visiting potentials. Strictly knocking unknown doors. AND I LOVE IT!! Even in the rain. So so so many miracles come from it-- usually not until the last 20 minutes of knocking but I love that because it really teaches us to be patient and diligent and fully obedient. But the coolest thing about it all is in the rain last night, my 12-year-old boy side of me came out and I caught a baby frog! We named him Rubert. Me and my trainee are pretty tight. We were actually friends on insta before the mission, lol. Her name is Sister B and she's from Vernal Utah and ran track at UVU the past two years. She's super solid.

My new trainee/comp, Me and Sister M

K so three pretty cool things happened, be excited...

1. Pray for our homeboy Richy and his baptismal date for AUGUST 1st!!! This is a big thing because he has had all the lessons taught to him 4 times and has not ever committed to a date. His wife (for a year now!) is a rockstar member and has been working with the missionaries since 2013 to get Richard to feel ready to be baptized and THE LIGHT HAS COME! I am buzzing. So stoked for their family.

2. Met the cutest girl during "knockout". We taught her the whole restoration on her doorstep. We asked her to pray afterward and her prayer was seriously the most precious thing I've ever heard. She included a couple things like, "I hope these things are true", "please bless me in the future to know the truth", "please make the world a better place". The air density at that moment felt exponentially heavy from the spirit and all the angels surrounding us. Wow good times. She texted us yesterday though and said her mom got upset with her and won't let her meet with us but she said she REALLY wants to learn more about God so she asked us other ways she can learn about our gospel. Hopefully her mom's heart will soften. Pray for us!

3. We got our new investigator who was 'curious' to church and man he is solid! So curious and kept asking specific questions about how his life will be after he's baptized. My heart is so full.

 

 

I love you all and I hope you are feeling the blessings from me being out here because I sure am. I love it so much.

Life really is so great out here. Keep being cute and sending me pictures of your lives! 

Love you all so dearly!!

-Sister Dohner :)

 

 

Well this week has been nuts...

I've been out for roughly 6 weeks now which means 6 weeks of insane miracles and immense blessings! I wish I could accurately describe what my life has been like here but in one word I'd describe it as crazy.

Beside all the great miracles, fun times, and success, sadly Sister M and I are being separated. We were seeing so much success... like lots in the mission. But the Lord is in charge. Training is for 12 weeks, typically. But we got a transfer call on Saturday and now I will be taking over the area and training a brand new missionary! 

I'm pretty convinced president confused me with someone else because this never happens. I am really nervous and anxious and scared but if the Lord has faith in me that I can do this, then I need to have faith too. 

Goodbyes to Sister M

I really like this talk called Faith- The Choice Is Yours by Richard C Edgley. I'll paraphrase: 

'Faith can move MOUNTAINS. Mountains of doubt and despair removed and replaced with hope and optimism. Mountains of sin replaced with repentance and forgiveness. Mountains of pain replaced with peace, hope, and gratitude. Move forward into the unknown, armed only with hope and desire. Showing faith and devotion to the Lord.'

 

One of my favorite lessons to give is about the Atonement. I was teaching an investigator once and she never realized fully that the atonement was for HER. The spirit took over me and told her in depth how exactly He

atoned for her and she just started crying and the room felt like it was on fire. SO AMAZING.

Please pray for me like super hard and long and sincere because I will need it! And pray that my trainee is as cool as I was as a trainee ;) 

Well I sure do love you all and I hope you all are being good girls and boys and using each and every day as a day to learn and grow and progress. Remember, in life you can either Win or Learn, Losing is a choice. 

Peace and Blessings,

Sister Dsteezy

 

 

Hello beautiful people! 

So this week was jam packed with good times. But I won't mention all the pranks we pulled because then you might think we're not working hard!

PREZ HENRIE IS IN THE HIZHOUSE! We had our Zone Meeting aka "Meet the New Mission President" last Tuesday and it was exciting because we had a city-wide blackout so half of it was in the dark lolol. Mind you: these meetings are typically from 8am-5pm. But of course after the lights went out I had a code red bathroom attack :)))) There is only one bathroom in the the whole stake center and it just happens to be a strange one where it's through two doors next to the baptismal room and has no windows so there is no source of light at all...Couldn't even see my hand in front of my face. That was a bonding experience for Sis M and I.

But on a more serious note, we are constantly seeing so many cool miracles in our area, I feel so lucky. 

An elder this past week made a weekly goal to wake up in the morning and look in the mirror and ask himself, "How can I be more like Sister M and Sister Dohner?" haha we are the talk of the town here. You all are missing out. :)

Here's a pretty cool story:

4th of July. One of my fav holidays but of course we still had our normal curfew. We crawled into bed at 10:30 and were almost asleep when the door bell rang. Anytime past 10:30 to missionaries is like the middle of the night to normal people. So we get up super startled and confused and look through the peephole to see our homeboy from upstairs that we talk to from time to time. We don't answer it though because too tired and just nah. Well he texts us right after about how he's super curious about the Mormon religion and he wants to learn more... uh okay rad! Well we see him the next day and he tells us he's open to meet with us right then so we pick up our stuff and go to a cute park bench place in our complex. He asks all these questions and it was a super sick conversation. He said he wants to come to church on Sunday and meet with us again. So we tell him to pray with us and he said the sweetest prayer about knowing if our church is true and to take care of his grandpa that just died. Ahh so sweet. 

But listen here, this is really significant to me...

1. When I was preparing for my mission I would pray that God would prepare the people for me and that they'd have curious minds to learn about the gospel.

Our homeboy kept saying how "curious" he was.

2. From the time we first met him I kept thinking about how we really needed to meet with him. I didn't know exactly why or if it was the spirit, but I knew we had to try to reach out to him. He works for Universal Studios super early in the mornings so we always miss him; but we caught him at the right time.

3. After the lesson I was telling my comp how cool that was because I kept feeling like he was one of the people I was sent here to teach and I prayed for curious minded Californians. Then she paused for a second and said, "You know... He moved here the day you got here."

WHAT.

It doesn't sound significant but it was. I don't know what God has in store for this guy but it was such a great testament knowing that God truly does prepare his people and he truly does answer prayers. 

Keep praying for me and remember to stand a little taller and be a little better :)

Stay freaky fre$h lovelies~

-Sister Dohner

Pics: 

I'm a Pro! Look Dad!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA

One of our Filipino bff's. Her twin gave me new slip on black vans that I've been wanting :)

This week was really good.

To kick it off, we had a sick district meeting on Tuesday about teaching simply that was super useful for Sis. M and I.

Then we had a nice meeting with our dope ward mission leader that got us fired up on what kind of missionaries we want to be. It really got us so pumped. He shared a quote with us and I put it on my wall to push me even harder:

"Each minute is a little thing, and yet, with respect to our personal productivity, to manage the minute is the secret of success."

One of my favorite talks, he also shared with us later in the week, is Look to God Each Day by Elder D. Todd Christofferson. Fam, it's so good. It talks about using each day as something special. Only focusing on conquering that day and taking your manna for the day; manna being Christ. Turn to Christ each day and feast upon His words. 

Ever since the MTC, I have been trying to study about what it really means to have faith and how we increase our faith in the Lord. We know faith requires action first, "we receive no witness until after a trial of our faith" (Ether 12:6) and we know blessings only come due to our faith... so how do we increase our faith and truly trust in the Lord in all we do? ...read the talk, it's cool.

Well our new mission president got in today! Out with the old and in with the new :) Pray super hard he allows us to go to Mormon Dodger Night, it is our dearest request.

Tender Mercy of the week:

On Thursday, Sister M and I were having a little rough patch. We felt pretty unproductive and a little down on our day. An appointment fell through so we decided to stop by one of our previous investigator's apartment hoping she would let us in. Right before we went, we said a prayer hoping we had a purpose to being here and that we wouldn't waste any more time. So we go up to her door and she wasn't home. Bummer. But her apartment was by the pool and we saw some people BBQing so we were like okay they're our next focus. We started talking to a father and his son and then they went and got the mother and we all had a really good discussion and shared a lesson and testified and they invited us over to teach them and feed us dinner tomorrow :) God prepares his people, friends. Ask and ye shall receive. 

But mostly this week was cool because we got quite a few new investigators and referrals and lots of lessons! One of our homeboys we just met came to church :) We got 4 investigators to church and a convert shared her story that was superb so it was a way good meeting. And I may or may not have shed a tear or two in Relief Society. It was a tender week of greatness. 

Oh ya and there was a big fire this week but it was cool because it stopped right at the mission home and was headed towards a bunch of missionaries apartments but the wind blew it the other way. The whole sky was brown with smoke that day. But it made for some pretty cool sunsets :)

I won't be specific but we had a couple things happen this week that shook us in our boots and was quite spooky. There were some situations we were in that were not good and got my heart racing. There are some crazy people out here. But oh how I am grateful for the guidance of the spirit. And for the will-power to walk, or run, away from situations (or people). I am beyond grateful to be here and for all the prayers of protection and success. 

S/O to all my fans. I wouldn't be here without you. Thank you for the prayers and emails and love. Keep it fresh babes. Until next week <3

Hey fans!

                                                         (Service Day--at a Carnival!)

So I don't really have a lot of time today, so apologies. But I did have a good week! It was hard getting our investigators to church and have them stay the whole time but we'll try harder this week. 

Yesterday we heart attacked our fav dads in the ward and our zone leaders--for Father's Day. We made them cupcakes! It was so sneaky and a good time. 

Our zone did service for like 5 hours at a carnival and all got sunburned but it was a good time. As you can tell in the pictures we worked really hard. lol. 

 

                                                               (On an exchange day)

I went on exchanges with the STL and knocked in the 105 million degree weather but it was so fun actually. I LOVE talking to peeps about Jesus Christ. Honestly I don't even feel like I'm on a mission. I just feel like I'm living a normal life, but better. Like a Chelsea 2.0 version.

We met with our investigator family and it went well! The Primary President came and talked to the little kids about what to expect and gave them CTR towels. I had some CTR rings and gave them each one. They were all so pumped--it was cute!

I invited my first person to be baptized and she said YES!!! :) The cutest little 76 year old lady. I told her God won't let her die until she gets baptized hahaha. She's so pumped though and loves the gospel abundantly! But she has to fix her hip because she can't really walk well so she will wait until after her hip feels better. Hopefully mid August.

I am sorry this is short but we are about to go play ball with our zone. Priorities. Send good vibes and pray that I don't make the Elders cry again... FROM BREAKING THEIR ANKLES!! Lol. 

I love you all so so very much and I feel all your prayers. I love this work and I love waking up every morning knowing I am exactly where I am supposed to be doing exactly what I'm supposed to be doing. God is good ladies and gents. Stay cool.

Sister D

 

 

Hello lovely humans!

 

                           
                (Me with my Companion--Sister M)

I am still alive and beat boxing my way thru the Santa Clarita valley :)

This week was nothing short from miraculous. I get overwhelmed

writing these emails because I really have too much good to tell

I have a hard time picking which stories but I have a decently juicy one

this week.

First and foremost... WE GOT A NEW INVESTIGATOR! He is Muslim and 

man, he's a gem. We taught him all about the plan of salvation and a little

of the restoration yesterday and he agreed to start reading the BOM 

we gave him. And he will continue to meet with us and try to study up and get

prepared for JULY 18TH DUNK DAY! We prayed about asking him to be

baptized and July 18th just felt right so pray it happens :)))

It is such a miracle to see how much God truly does prepare his people. 

The big miracles like our Muslim friend is super awesome but what is super

sick is the everyday, small miracles God manifests in our lives. I think my 

favorite thing in the mission is letting the Holy Ghost speak through me and

seeing the truthfulness of the gospel spark in their eyes. It's something I cannot

effectively explain. It is something needed to experience to understand and man,

it is the coolest thing.

I was really thinking this week about why I'm here. Not only on my mission but on

this earth. We tell people all the time that we all have purpose but what is it? You know, 

an LDS mission is 18-24 months but our time here on earth is our true mission. I believe 

we all received "mission calls" in heaven. Part of them are called Patriarchal Blessings. Missions

are filled with rules and guidelines and goals along with an immense amount of blessings. 

You're doing a lot better than you think, but we can all do a whole lot better.

Our Mission-wide Temple trip was great! The LA Temple is so big and beautiful!

Well I want you all to know not to worry about me. I have sad moments but I make sure they are numbered. I know I will never regret a decision when it is in the footsteps of Christ. I would not want to be anywhere else.

 I love you all more than I love taking naps on P day. Which is a lot. So ily. Keep it fresh and make every day count.

Love,

Sista D