Merry Christmas from Midland!

Sister Chizzy enjoyed a wonderful Christmas in Michigan! She was very very well taken care of and had so much fun at the members houses and at her mission conference. We were so thrilled to talk to her on the phone on Christmas day and loved hearing her cute, sweet laugh. She is loving her mission and the people she is serving in Michigan!

Hey everyone! I hope that you all had a fantastic week, I truly hope that it was full of Christ, family and the pure sense of giving! That is what this season is all about. :) I want to thank everyone that sent me cards and thought about me while I am all the way out here in Michigan! I heard that it was white Christmas for all of you which is super awesome, we had a little tiny bit of snow so that was fun too!

This week I learned a lot about how we can make out weaknesses become strengths. It all comes from the scripture ether 12:27. Through Jesus Christ I know that our weaknesses can become strengths, I have seen it in myself. We were able to teach one of our less active members and she realized how her self pride is what is keeping her from coming to church and reading. The thing is she is not the only one. The whole Book of Mormon is about the people and their pride cycles, as we humble ourselves to the Lord and ask for strength we will receive that guidance and strength to overcome our weaknesses.

This week we had so many wonderful miracles, here are a couple of them, we found 3 new people to teach, Kelly, Maxine and Jack. That was a miracle in of itself, we have been on a little drought of finding people so what an amazing experience to find them this week! :) Definitely a Christmas Miracle!! :D

On Christmas Eve we had a half mission party!! We learned a lot about finding, which was great and we also got to play a bunch of games! it was a blast, it's so nice to sometimes take a minute to step back and just enjoy being a missionary! I loved it, my mission president is amazing. He helps us all feel so important I am so thankful for that. :) We also got to sing at our half mission party, we sang with 4 of us, I think it went pretty well! I love music, it really helps us feel the spirit that is for sure! We were able to have dinner with a family in our ward that night and we got to help them with their nativity they did. I really enjoyed being a part of someone elses Christmas Eve.

Christmas was incredible! Family is amazing. It is central to God's plan I know that is true! :D I LOVE LOVE LOVE my family, they are the best I want you all to know that! haha

I was spoiled out here in Midland, oh man so spoiled we had meals with a member for every meal it was great. Its amazing being a missionary during the Christmas season, it helped me see other peoples traditions and I loved it. Christmas is about Christ, I love the spirit during this time of year. It's that pure love of Christ. Continue to love and serve others throughout this entire year!

One of my favorite miracles was on Saturday. We were out door knocking and on Saturdays our missions can't use cars so we were out walking and we all were a bit uptight because these people had let us into their home but they just wanted to bash us and tell us that we were wrong.. #notcool so anyways we were walking home for dinner and we walked past this lady and she's all wait stop!! And were like what the? So then we walk over there and she's like are you girls caroling? and were all, no but I mean we can if you want us too! So then she let us in her home and had us sing like 5 songs for her kids and family! :) It was SO sweet! we sang them I am a Child of God and it was so cool to bring the spirit into that little home. I loved it! Then she was like I want to feed you something but I don't have anything and then she comes out with exactly three pieces of cheesecake and hands it to us! :D It was so nice! I loved it! That was such a blessing, for us and then she gave us her number and wants us to come back! :) What a great week. I loved it so much! This is Jesus Christ's gospel, he has called each of us to help him in this work I know it is true! Have a great week!

Love Sister Chisholm <3

Hey everyone!! :) Merry Christmas, I hope that you all have a wonderful Christmas! It is truly the time that we are able to remember our savior and to focus on family and serving others!

This week has been great! Our trio is diving and conquering and we are dominating life! :D We are working hard and having a great time as well. We got to play the chimes in our ward Christmas party talk about awesomeness, who would've guessed that on my mission I would learn to play the chimes, it's definitely a cool instrument to play! :D

So I must tell you all that if you are ever having a hard day go check out Angels we have heard on high or angels on the realms of glory by david archuleta and like piano guys because in reality it is fantastic! We had dinner at a members, the Duncans on Tuesday and they showed us that video, it was amazing! Seriously I loved it, so if you get the chance check it out!

So onto the miracles for a minute...

1. This week we were able to have interviews with President Jacobsen and we were able to have a great district meeting on how important it is that the people we meet know our purpose. When they know our purpose as missionaries we will be able to see the elect and help them come unto Christ. It was great! :)

2. We had a wonderful trade off with our Sister Training Leaders, Sister Guest came out here to Midland and she is just the sweetest sister in the world. She helped me a lot, and was able to tell us how to find and work even harder!

3. So this coming week is Christmas and as for all of us missionaries out here in Michigan we are having a half mission Christmas party/training/talent show, and as a district well the sisters in my district we are singing the song He was Here from the Forgotten Carols and so part of my email I want to talk about the lost or forgotten songs from that play. The song we are singing is about the shepherds and about this one Shepard that actually falls asleep and misses the whole thing. It makes me think of President Uchdorfs talk to the priesthood in the last conference in April called are we sleeping through the restoration? It's so important that at this Christmas season although there is so much hustle and bustle we always remember the reason for the season which is Christ. I have started reading Matthew along with the bible each morning and I have started to really realize how many miracles Jesus Christ performed along with all the service he gave. When we strive to be representatives of him at all times others are able to come to know for themselves that Jesus Christ lives.

I know that he lives. I know that he was born in a stable in the most humble circumstances. He is my savior as he is all of yours. I hope you all have a very merry Christmas!

Love Sister Chisholm! <3

ps this pic is totally at the worlds largest Christmas store!! It was INCREDIBLE!!! :D

 Christmas hat from her siblings!

 Hooray for calls home!!!

Merry Christmas missionary style!
 Silly gift exchange with her mission. She got this Elder some Elf jammies!!

 Fishing, our Christmas Eve tradition...delivered by Grandma Bennett! Thanks Grandma!!!!

 Elders, Sisters and President and Sister Jacobsen!

 The wonderful families who took good care of our girl on Christmas!!!!

 A little white Christmas!!!!

TRAINING, CHRISTMAS FUN, READ THE BOOK OF MORMON and #ShareTheGIft

TRAINING, CHRISTMAS FUN, READ THE BOOK OF MORMON and #ShareTheGIft

 Sister Chizzy and her new "trainee", Sister Lau. Her, Sister Smith and Sister Lau are in a trio until Sister Smith goes home in a few weeks.

 The Midland wards do a huge community nativity display. It looks beautiful!

 Sister Chizzy with her garland all her friends and family contributed to. She loves it!

 Their cute little trees all decked out for Christmas! Jen's is the pink one!

Midland 2 district!

December 15

Hey everyone!! To start off, don't forget to watch the video He is the Gift and share it! :) It is such an amazing video and it really helps bring that Christmas spirit! :D So take on that challenge and discover it, embrace it and share it! :D 

ALSO I want to thank every single one of you that helped my mom make that adorable garland with all your pictures on it!!!! :D Oh my goodness it made my entire week to see all of your beautiful faces and to know that you all are alive, sometimes as a missionary I forget that I lived in Utah, where there is like 5 lds churchs on every corner instead of 30 different kinds of churchs on one road! haha :) So again thank you ALL so much! It was amazing and meant so much to me! :) 

So here's a little update on my week, we are still working hard out here in Midland! Weird thing is it's totally not snowing yet, it's been quite a few years since I had not a white Christmas and then I thought coming to Michigan for sure it would be white but maybe not! Its been a blessing for us sisters though because we were walking all week! :D blessings all around, they happen more than we think! 

This week we were able find quite a few potential investigators! It was amazing to find and hear about so many great testimonies that people have and how the Book of Mormon can help them increase that knowledge. I know that to be true. I actually was able to finish the Book of Mormon this week and I want you all to know that it is true. I know that it was translated but a prophet of God named Joseph Smith, I know that is answers all the questions of our souls and can help us in every aspect of our lives. It is the word of God. I would challenge you all at the beginning of this upcoming year of 2015.. crazy!! To reread the Book of Mormon and read it with the intent to know of the truthfulness of it. You will receive your answer for yourself. I know you will! :) 

This week we were able to teach our investigator Jason about the Word of Wisdom and it went really well. He is progressing so much in the gospel and he knows it is true. He also wants the promise from the word of wisdom to walk and not be weary and run and not be faint. I know that those promises are true as well! 

things are going great out here in Midland, I love being a missionary especially at this beautiful Christmas time. I hope you all are able to come closer to our savior Jesus Christ at this time. Don't forget that he really and truly is the reason for the season! 

Love Sister Chisholm! <3

December 8

Hey everyone! :) 

I hope you have all had a wonderful week! It sounds like things are going great out there in Utah! :) I hope you all are enjoying the season and having fun. Something cool that we are doing out here is He is the Gift, I really hope you all have had the chance to check out that video and that you were all able to share it. It really helps us remember the true meaning of Christmas. It's a time to remember Christ. 

So a couple cool stories for you all... 

1. My trainee is named Sister Lau she is from England but most recently from Arizona! She is also Chinese, yes awesome right?! She is the cutest thing ever, I really love her and she is already adjusting so well. I can't even believe that I am training still.. I feel like I don't really know what I am doing but Heavenly Father knows what he is doing so trusting in him is all we can do. I am so blessed to be a trio right now it's helping me learn and grow so much. 

2. We were able to go contacting on campus this week, which was incredible!! I loved it so much! People my age that are actually willing to change are the best! We met so many great people, they all actually had a desire to learn. haha but here's a pretty funny story we met this guy named franko and he totally didn't think we were listening after we left his door and then we heard this.. "Sisters.. That's why they are religious, because they can't find a man!!!" He must've been telling one of his roommates but that was pretty funny. Apparently we are all on missions because we can't get married... haha :) 

3. Our wards out here in Midland did this amazing Nativity exhibit this week and we were able to walk threw it with a couple of our investigators. It was amazing to see so many different scenes portrayed in different ways but it's all the same. Christmas is about Christ and because I am a missionary I am able to focus even more fulling on Letting him in. It's such an incredible experience. He is the reason for the season. I know that to be true. 

I hope you all are taking the time to let him in this Christmas season. Jesus Christ is our savior. He is our Redeemer and he is there. We are instruments in his hands and he wants us to become the best we can be. 

I am so thankful for the gospel in my life, I hope you all are able to share your testimonies this Christmas season. Keep loving life, I know I do! :) 

Love you all! 

Love Sister Chisholm <3 

December 1

Snow, wind, hats, boots, layers, tights, snowman, snowball fights, and best of all... Come back after the holidays!!! Tis the season of being a missionary in the Michigan Lansing Mission! :) 

Don't you all fret though, we are working hard and having a blast while doing so! This week has been awesome, in all honesty though being a missionary is just awesome. If any of you ever get the chance to go on a mission... DO IT and to all my missionary friends, keep working hard and bringing those people to Christ! :) You are all my inspiration! So here's some awesome updates from this week! 

We had a 1/3 mission conference this week and it was fantastic! Our mission leaders are called of God that is for sure. Sister Smith and I and some of the other elders and sisters in our zone had the chance to sing because I have been given much in the middle of the meeting, it was really great. We even added my favorite vs to the end, "because of thy lives mission Lord, I too will serve, I'll leave the comfort of my home to teach thy word. I'll seek thy sheep who've gone astray and those who've never known the way, I will make thy work my work today." It brought the spirit into that meeting and helped us all I think realize again why we are here and why we are missionaries. The gospel is true! 

That night we taught our investigator Hunter! He is awesome, he loves the whole Light of Christ idea and wants to have the Light of Christ more fully in his life. We have seen a change in his countenance already from him reading the Book of Mormon, that book is true, and it will change your life. If you don't believe me.. Well just do it! I promise it will change your life. It has changed mine. We also had dinner that night with the Bowmans, Brother Bowman has been a MTC president and also the president of the Peru mission! He is great, I love hearing his stories. 

Wednesday all 3 of our appointments canceled on us but we did get to have one appointment with Bonnie it was all on prayer, I love the scripture Alma 37:37 one of my favorites. Prayer is the way we come closer to our Heavenly Father. So then we went door knocking in the snow for like 3 hours!! It was a blast! Sister Smith and I make everything fun, I am so grateful for her as my companion. She teaches me so much! I can't believe she goes home at the end of December! Crazy stuff! We had dinner with our recent converts the Cormiers that night, they are also feeding us thanksgiving! happy day!! :) It was super delicious and Kurt he has actually met Chuck Norris! Cool stuff right? Oh the people you meet on missions. It's great! :) 

Thursday at dinner one of the members told me this quote, I love it. "You can be motivated by love or you can be motivated by fear, you choose." That is something to really live by. It's amazing how much love our Heavenly Father has for us. Look for the small and simple tender mercies he gives each day. That was mine for that day! We also got to help one of our investigators set up for Christmas!! What in the world?!? is it really Christmas time already?!?! WOW! 

On Saturday we got to walk in a parade!!!! That was an adventure! :) It was super douper fun! We are having this super cool nativity exhibit in a couple weeks so we got to pass our invitations and tootsie rolls for that! :) People were super nice and it was fun to be able to walk and invite people to come to the Nativity, everyone is getting super excited about it! It's going to be great! :) 

Sunday was amazing as always. I learned a lot about reverence and also about how we must always stand in holy places. As we do the small and simple things we will be closer to our Savior Jesus Christ. I love this gospel. I know it's true. Life is good! :) I hope you all have a wonderful thanksgiving and that you always remember to be grateful! :) 

Love Sister Jenica Chisholm! <3 

TRAINING and a small flood!

Sister Chizzy had another great week! She has been called to be a trainer! She will get her "brand spankin' new baby" as she calls her on Thursday. She says she feel a little overwhelmed but excited to be a trainer and is happy her mission president feels that she is ready! She had a great Thanksgiving with some new members and said she even made the green bean casserole! She is doing great!

Hey everyone! :) What a week!! So yes from my title, I am training a brand new missionary straight from the MTC! #what?!??!! I am the new missionary aren't I? It's going to be quite the adventure that is for sure. I am so very thankful that I am not alone on this because there is no possible way I could do this without my Savior Jesus Christ. Oh and cool thing as well, my second trainer Sister Smith, she is actually going home on the 31 and she totally gets to stay here in Midland with us!! :) We are actually going to be training this new Sister together until she leaves then I will finish off her training, that will be so great! We have so much fun and work hard. Sister Smith is incredible. 

On Monday we got to teach a less active that just moved back from college about scripture study and it went really well. She also gave us hot chocolate which was super nice because that night there were 40 mile per hour winds. Oh Michigan and it's crazy weather. Her lesson went really well and she taught me a lot about having my own testimony. It's so important to have our own testimonies because if we don't then we don't be able to help others understand the gospel. In preach my gospel it even says you can't convert anyone past your own conversion. I have seen that happen here as a missionary for sure. 

Wednesday we had a great lesson with our investigator Jason, oh my goodness he is amazing. I mean like gold. He has read all of the book of Mormon and is already reading D&C, he retains everything and it's amazing to see his progression. He walked into the chapel and sat down and I asked him how he felt and he looked at sis smith and I and said, it feels right. The feeling is different in here than any other church. this is right. It was an incredible experience the spirit was so strong. 

Thursday was well great! I mean it was thanksgiving and we were able to have it at our recent converts house! :) It was super delicous we were able to help make some of dinner as well! We also went door knocking even on thanksgiving and the best part, out of the two doors that answered, neither of them slammed the door in our face!! Janice the first lady talked to us for like 15 minutes, she wasn't too interested but she did ask some questions and was really nice to us and then the next guy he answered he said he might come to the nativity exhibit that our ward is putting on this weekend so that was good! After dinner and everything we came home to our apartment... Which was soaking wet!! Definitely what we wanted but the greatest part is that we just laughed. It was super funny, we couldn't even believe it! So yes we had a flood, it was from like a broken pipe or something. They finally fixed it today. But the moral of this story is that We can be grateful in any circumstance, even when we have floods, always look at your situations and be grateful. They may not be exactly what you want but they will always work out. In President Uchdorfs talks grateful in any circumstances he says, "life is not about endings its about spiritual beginnings" I want to add my testimony to his, life is meant to be enjoyed. We are here to learn and to grow and sometimes we have to go through hard times to test our patience and reliance on the Lord. I know that as we trust in our Heavenly Father things always work out. 

I hope you all have a wonderful week! Keep praying and doing the small and simple things! 

Love Sister Chisholm! <3 

First baptism, snow and being GRATEFUL!

11/15/2014

Well hey everyone!! :) If you couldn't tell from the subject.. This week I had my first baptism!!!!! :) :) :) YAY!! Let's do a little happy dance, I mean missionary work isn't all about baptisms but let me tell you why they are so amazing.

1.It's amazing to see someone that you love so much decide to make that covenant with God. Last year at this time I spoke at my little sisters baptism about the Holy Ghost, I realized at that moment how excited and how much I knew that going on a mission was something I needed to do. I was so grateful for my little sisters choice to follow our Savior, and that from that day on she would have the Holy Ghost to guide, support, lead and comfort her. Watching someone that you teach, learn to love, and someone that you want to progress in the gospel is incredible. The feeling is indescribable.

2. Seeing how many members and people love your investigator is also amazing! Valerie became friends with the people in our ward and that's how she found the gospel. She sometimes would even set up our member present lessons! Isn't that cool? She made sure that in her program everyone that maybe had affected her in some way was a part of it. I challenge everyone to become involved in doing missionary work. Have the missionaries over for dinner, give them referalls, help them move along The Lord's work. Without the members missionaries really can't do that much. Valerie was a great example of this.

3.I have learned so much about the Atonement from teaching Valerie. she has shown to me the exact example of having real intent to follow Jesus Christ. She has grown to love the small and simple things, like praying and reading the scriptures and has helped me understand even more why they are so important. She also has taught me that everyone is important. Val has had a lot of really hard things in her life but to see here decide to follow her Savior Jesus Christ and enter the water of baptism and receive the gift of the holy ghost has been a moment that I won't soon forget. You know those chills that people talk about? Yeah, I had them the entire day.

I want to testify to you all that this gospel is true. After the baptism we taught one of our recent converts about the gospel of Jesus Christ, Faith, Repentance, Baptism, Receiving the gift of the holy ghost and enduring to the end. We are mostly all on enduring to the end. Continue to endure, I promise you that it will all work out. Life was never meant to be easy, if it was easy we would never learn. In the Book of Mormon it tells us that the greatest missionaries ever were depressed and ready to turn back, but right when they felt that way they turned to the Lord and he strengthened them. I promise that if we pray to God with full purpose of Heart, and that we do what we know we should he will bless us.

The Book of Mormon is the word of God. It helps me help others every single day. It has changed my life. READ IT!!!! :)

Love Sister Chizzy! <3

 Happy Happy day for Valerie!

Sis Chizzy and Sis Smith sent us a cute Thanksgiving card about "feasting on the word"!

 Snow, wind, hats, boots, layers, tights, snowman, snowball fights, and best of all... Come back after the holidays!!! Tis the season of being a missionary in the Michigan Lansing Mission! :) 

Don't you all fret though, we are working hard and having a blast while doing so! This week has been awesome, in all honesty though being a missionary is just awesome. If any of you ever get the chance to go on a mission... DO IT and to all my missionary friends, keep working hard and bringing those people to Christ! :) You are all my inspiration! So here's some awesome updates from this week! 

We had a 1/3 mission conference this week and it was fantastic! Our mission leaders are called of God that is for sure. Sister Smith and I and some of the other elders and sisters in our zone had the chance to sing because I have been given much in the middle of the meeting, it was really great. We even added my favorite vs to the end, "because of thy lives mission Lord, I too will serve, I'll leave the comfort of my home to teach thy word. I'll seek thy sheep who've gone astray and those who've never known the way, I will make thy work my work today." It brought the spirit into that meeting and helped us all I think realize again why we are here and why we are missionaries. The gospel is true! 

That night we taught our investigator Hunter! He is awesome, he loves the whole Light of Christ idea and wants to have the Light of Christ more fully in his life. We have seen a change in his countenance already from him reading the Book of Mormon, that book is true, and it will change your life. If you don't believe me.. Well just do it! I promise it will change your life. It has changed mine. We also had dinner that night with the Bowmans, Brother Bowman has been a MTC president and also the president of the Peru mission! He is great, I love hearing his stories. 

Wednesday all 3 of our appointments canceled on us but we did get to have one appointment with Bonnie it was all on prayer, I love the scripture Alma 37:37 one of my favorites. Prayer is the way we come closer to our Heavenly Father. So then we went door knocking in the snow for like 3 hours!! It was a blast! Sister Smith and I make everything fun, I am so grateful for her as my companion. She teaches me so much! I can't believe she goes home at the end of December! Crazy stuff! We had dinner with our recent converts the Cormiers that night, they are also feeding us thanksgiving! happy day!! :) It was super delicious and Kurt he has actually met Chuck Norris! Cool stuff right? Oh the people you meet on missions. It's great! :) 

Thursday at dinner one of the members told me this quote, I love it. "You can be motivated by love or you can be motivated by fear, you choose." That is something to really live by. It's amazing how much love our Heavenly Father has for us. Look for the small and simple tender mercies he gives each day. That was mine for that day! We also got to help one of our investigators set up for Christmas!! What in the world?!? is it really Christmas time already?!?! WOW! 

On Saturday we got to walk in a parade!!!! That was an adventure! :) It was super douper fun! We are having this super cool nativity exhibit in a couple weeks so we got to pass our invitations and tootsie rolls for that! :) People were super nice and it was fun to be able to walk and invite people to come to the Nativity, everyone is getting super excited about it! It's going to be great! :) 

Sunday was amazing as always. I learned a lot about reverence and also about how we must always stand in holy places. As we do the small and simple things we will be closer to our Savior Jesus Christ. I love this gospel. I know it's true. Life is good! :) I hope you all have a wonderful thanksgiving and that you always remember to be grateful! :) 

Love Sister Jenica Chisholm! <3 

This is us at the parade! :)

The Cold Never Bothered Me Anyway!!!!!

So in this weeks news, with Valerie things are going well there! We are now teaching her the new member lessons which is great! It's hard cuz all of our numbers went down but hey I am so glad she is baptized! The elders also had a baptism this week and that was really neat too! I played the piano! I love the piano, man it's like my release every time I get to play I LOVE it! Tell the kids they better keep playing because it's like the best talent ever, especially as a missionary! 

This week we had an awesome 1/3 mission training that was so GREAT!! We sat in the chapel from 9-4 and to be honest I never thought I would love a meeting so much I learned so much and now it's all about applying it to my everyday missionary life which has been going pretty well! :) Here's some highlights from it.. 

Sister Jacobesen taught us all about being happy especially with winter and stuff coming missionary have a hard time I guess in the winter, which I can see it it is literally freezing cold and we are out door knocking a lot but the great thing is we are doing The Lords work so in all honesty the cold will be fun, and soon enough it'll be spring! Everyone is getting super excited out here for Christmas like lights are up and all that jazz already! I am pretty excited for it! It's going to be fun! :D I will definitely miss being home but then I get to call home and that's going to great!!!! :D So she talked with us a bunch about exercise and how it helps us be even happier which I know is true! I run every morning for at least 10 minutes so that's been good and then sit ups and all that jazz too! I love being happy, I am very thankful for my positive attitude towards stuff, it's a blessing from Heavenly Father that is for sure! 

President Jacobsen taught us about obedience which I loved as well, he said that " we can all be exactly obedient to the white book." I loved that because it is so true. I am striving everyday to be exactly obedient Sister Smith is doing her best too, she isn't as exactly obedient as sis nuttall which sometimes is definitely hard but I still love her and pray for her everyday! 

My favorite part of our whole meeting was when we had a talk about being excellent, Heavenly Father didn't call us to be just great he called us to be excellent. Which I loved that, so then he actually had some missionaries read the scripture in 3 nephi 5:13 out loud, I had the chance to read it and it hit my heart so strongly. I am a representative of Jesus Christ and I am here to do his work. I loved it so much. Being a missionary is great, I am not perfect nor will I ever be but I am doing my best to become the type of missionary Heavenly Father wants me to be, that's all he asks! 

So on Wednesday it was FREEZING!! It snowed all day long, like literally all day, and it was like 17 degrees all day,  we had 3 appointments and they all fell through so what did we do? We went door knocking! :) So we were out door knocking and the first two doors we knocked on both people told us that our church is completely false and that prophets aren't real and that there isn't such thing as a book of Mormon, talk about anti.. but as missionaries all we can do is testify and so that's exactly what happened. It was amazing, I testified that I know the Book of Mormon is the word of God and also that Joseph Smith was a prophet. My testimony grows everyday as people anti what I know with all my heart to be true. It's so important to stand up for what we believe in. That day was actually one of my favorites this week, we didn't see tons of success but it's always great to talk to people and to share my testimony. Someone will be ready, people are prepared everywhere, we are here to harvest the seeds that have already been planted! :)

Have a great week and remember to be grateful!

Search. Ponder. Remember....and moving big stuff is GOOD!

 Should I tell her that looks suspiciously like her rival high school's hoodie??? Hahahaha.

 Happiness is conference Ensign's!

Apparently, they like to make notebooks in Sister Chizzy's mission....she made a Star Wars one...may the Force be with you Sister!!!


Hey everyone! I hope that all of your weeks have been as great as mine! :) Here's some of the highlights! 

We had a really great FHE with Sister Skog this week, she actually taught us and she went over the B's by President Hinckley. If you don't know all those here's one for us all to work on, "Be Faithful." That's what she talked with us about and I started to understand even more fully how important it really is for us to be faithful to the name that we bare and also to be faithful to what we know to be true. Make sure you all are having family home evening, it's an amazing tool in bringing families even closer together. Also did you know that families are ordained of God and that they are central to His plan? Don't forget that! :) 

We had a really incredible couple lessons with our investigator,  that is actually being baptized THIS Saturday, we are really excited for her to make this covenant with God. She has shown to me how much the Atonement of Jesus Christ really changes lives. In just this short 2 months I have been teaching her I have seen her countenance change and also her hope for a better day. The gospel is true, it is here today and it can and will change lives. All he asks is that we follow him. 

We had stake conference this weekend and it was all about hastening the work. I hope that you all are doing your best as members to help hasten the work. The gospel of Jesus Christ is being spread by missionaries across the world but along with that it is being spread even more from the members of the Chruch. Invite your friends and families to learn more about the gospel. It may be scary but Heavenly Father promises us blessings. I have seen it in my own life, it's scary to open your mouth and talk to someone but by doing so we are able to understand our own testimonies more fully and also come closer to our savior. I hope you all have a wonderful week! Here's a scripture that I just love, it's 2 Nephi 4:16, make sure that you hope for things to come and have faith that it will all work out! 

On Wednesday my companion got sick.. :( It's been going around here like non other, everyone is sick., Don't worry I am getting my flu shot hopefully today, and I haven't gotten sick yet. Yay for Vitamin C! You taught me well! So anyways she was not feeling good at all, and we also got our bikes that day so I was pretty nervous we weren't going to get like anything done because she wasn't feeling good, it was cold outside and we were going to have to bike. So we decided to try and find a ride to our appointment with our recent convert. So after calling like 3 people I said, what if you call someone maybe they will be able to come. So she calls one person, Tilah and Tilah is all yep I will be right there. It was a total miracle. So then we get over to our recent converts house and she is just getting over sick and my comp is  coughing and she did not feel good at all and she really needed our help moving her stuff around, so guess what I did? I just started moving stuff for her. I started moving the couch to the over side and moving the big dressers and doing everything that neither of them could do. A couple minutes in, I started thinking about being at home and how many times we hauled up those giant buckets from the basement for Halloween and Christmas and I was very thankful that you made us work. It showed me that hard work is important and that as we work hard we gain muscle and strength. So this is a totally weird story but while sitting here I just thought about the gospel in this way. As we read each day, pray always and as we attend the temple and partake of the sacrament we are building spiritual strength and muscle. As we exercise our faith we come closer to our Heavenly Father and we are able to do things more fully and then we can step back and see that what we have learned and what we are continually learning is helping us in the long run. 

Anyways that was my little story. I am loving it here in Midland, my companion is so awesome, we are working hard and trying to figure out the formula to go tracting or finding because it is hard. The key is to use scriptures and bring up restored truths but it's still hard work! 

Love Sister Chisholm <3 

Halloween in Midland!

Sister Chizzy had a great week! She got to rake leaves and have a Halloween party at members houses..she said "it was SUPER weird to wear a hoodie!"

 Apparently the Halloween pillowcases I sent them were quite terrifying......

 Cold enough for a warm wool headband!

 Making cupcakes for their district...I think their apartment looks great!

Sister Smith and Sister Chizzy in their little witches hats and light up jack-o-lantern necklaces....as spooky as they can get! I love sending packages and of course...I couldn't resist the hats......Check out the first presidency watching over them up there.........I'm sure they'd approve!!

Hey everyone! I hope you all have had a fantastic week, I know I have and especially that it was Halloween! One of the best holidays out there! It even snowed for a bit here so that was an adventure especially because we spent Halloween raking leaves! Oh the joys of Michigan, literally there are so many leaves its insane! I thought Utah had a lot of leaves but no, there are like 2 billion more here in Michigan, also lots of leaves means for lots of giant piles which means I want to jump in them all! We will have to do that before the leaves turn to snow! :)

In other new this week was great! Here's a couple super cool stories,

On Wednesday we went to grab the mail after eating lunch and district meeting, so I got out of the car and looked to see if there was mail, ps thank you Sister Sessions for the postcard, it even had a cat on it. I loved it. :) Anyways, there was this guy smoking a cigarette grabbing his mail and so of course I decided to say hi. So I told him that I am a representative of Jesus Christ and that we share a message about how Jesus Christ is our savior and that he loves us. This guy looked at me and said, "So." and I said I know that he loves you and he looked at me again and said, "There is no Jesus Christ." and then without even thinking about it I looked at him straight in the eyes and said, " I know Jesus Christ is real, and I know that he and our father in heaven love you." He just shook his head and walked away. Now don't worry I don't tell this story to be a damper. I tell this story because it was amazing to me how quick I was able to testify of my Savior Jesus Christ. I know that He lives, I know that he loves me and that he loves each of us. He performed an infinite sacrifice for each of us and because of the atonement we can repent and come closer to Him. That moment was defining, I know that this is The Lord's work and I am blessed enough to be an instrument in his hands.

Another really neat thing that happened this week is our investigator Jason, he is so great! This week we had a really powerful lesson about baptism and it actually ended with him committing to pray about a date to be baptized and he also received a priesthood blessing from Brother Jones, the members home we were at. Members are essential to this work. I hope you all have the chance to go out on splits with the missionaries or even have them over for dinner. We have been sharing with families the scripture D&C 4 each time we go over for dinner, so today I would like to challenge you all to read over D&C 4 and apply the attributes in verses, 5 and 6. I have been striving to apply charity and patience more fully and I have seen the change in my life already. It's incredible what The Lord can do with us when we turn ourselves over to him. The gospel is true. It's a beautiful day and I know that our Savior Jesus Christ lives.

Have a wonderful week everyone! Keep smiling, also here's a quote from President Uchdorfs "Hope in Gods light" talk that he gave in the past April conference! "Darkness will not gain victory over the light of Christ, Gods light is real. It is available to all, it gives life to all things." :)

Love Sister Chisholm <3  

We love hearing from our cute girl and are so glad she's doing great! We are thankful she is loving being a missionary and the people of Midland!

Everyone and their DOG........Old fashioned missionaries for Halloween and a funny Door knocking day.....

Sister Chizzy is doing great!

She got a new companion, got to dress up like olden day missionaries for their ward Chili Cook off and Halloween party and is, happy it's almost Halloween because she gets to eat all the Halloween Oreo's she can stuff!

Hey everyone!! I hope you all had a great week! So the title of this week, I bet you all are curious, hahaha. let me just tell you something. In Utah the saying "everyone and their dog" really IS just a saying, but here in Michigan it's real life!! EVERYONE and I mean it everyone has dog and they love them so much! Quick little story we were out door knocking on Friday and we knocked on this door, no one was home but their dog sure was he jumped up on the door and scared me and Sister Smith almost off the porch. So yeah, next time you say that.. Think of us out here with seriously dogs all around us!
Anyways... This week was great! My new companion is Sister Smith, she is from Gilbert Arizona, loves oatmeal chocolate chip cookies and makes me laugh like non other! She has a transfer and a half left on her mission and she is teaching me so much. I love her already! :) 

One of the highlights from this week was teaching our lead progressing investigator, we taught her with one of our ward members , and then we also had two recent converts at the lesson. The lesson was on Small and Simple things so we were talking about reading scriptures, saying our prayers, going to the temple and having family home evening like how Elder Ballad talked about this past conference. We talked about this for a couple minutes and then our two recent converts that were there bore their testimonies of how this has changed their lives. We didn't ask them to or anything but that's just the way the spirit led the lesson. It was really powerful to hear two recent members of our church testify of such strong truths. I loved it. The spirit is so important while teaching people about Jesus Christ without it, we would be nothing. 

Another great blessing from this week is our investigator Audrey, we met her just last week and she asked if she could have a Book of Mormon she has been reading it and came to our lesson with questions in mind. It was really neat, again another moment that I realized without the spirit I would be nothing, that and the Book of Mormon. I know it is the word of God. 

Sorry this email is so short but I hope you all have a wonderful Halloween week!! I love Halloween so you better all eat some Halloween Oreos and dress up like something, we even had the chance to dress up like olden day missionaries this week! :) Keep smiling, do the small and simple things because I know those are the things that build our foundation, without them we will falter and we will fail but with them all things are possible.
Love Sister Chisholm! <3 

Oh my goodness, heres a pretty funny story but all good stories start with.. "We were out door knocking....."
So we were our door knocking, and we had been door knocking most of the day it was Saturday so we only had two appointments and one of them was at night. So we were door knocking not tons of success but people were talking to us a little bit, we met these two people that had just moved from Shanghai and I was convinced we were going to teach them but they said right then they were still set on being buddist but that they would look up mormon.org so that's a start at least right?! So then we keep walking and we knock on this door and this guy opens the door, without a shirt on...... :O talk about awkward!!! (AND..he was kinda cute) hahaha me and Sister Smith were kind of tongue tied for a second and finally we were able to spill out who we were and what we were doing there and he just started like being all weird and trying to flirt with us and we were like, ummm you can check outmormon.org if you have any more questions. See ya!! It was SO awkward, but also really funny, we laughed for probably the next half an hour about it. People are funny, why would you come to the door without a shirt on?! Anyways that was pretty funny! :) Then we met a potential, he said he would want to know more about The Book of Mormon so we are teaching him on Thursday, that will be really good I think! Blessings all around! 

Sunday was great! Just like normal, I love Sundays so much. It was the primary program and oh man... we were even singing along, we decided if we just sang childrens songs at doors maybe people would listen. We haven't done it yet but those songs are powerful, no wonder we are supposed to be like a child! :) also I kept thinking about Jaemon, Grace and Ej!! AHH!! They are always the cutest in Primary Programs and I missed seeing their adorable faces and hearing their voices during this one! We had dinner with the James family last night and it was great, their son he's like 5 told us this joke... What is red and can kill you?! A Poisonous strawberry! hahaha, he was killing us while we ate and the member told us funny stories about his mission. I love eating with members, it always is really neat to be in a home where the spirit is so strong! I learn more and more about how I want my family and home to be each time I go to one of their homes, but don't worry I always compare it even more to my home! I love my family so much!!!!!! :) 

Things out here are going great! I am totally missing you all with this whole Halloween fest, but we are buying halloween oreos today and we are definitely enjoying knocking on doors that are literally DECKED out in halloween stuff! It's insane actually, also on Halloween we get to rake leaves all day for members in our ward and make pizza so it will be pretty fun! :) I am excited about that! Service is the best! 

Love Sister Chisholm! <3 

Rainbows, running and saying goodbye to a wonderful trainer!

 "Fishing" at Dow Park-the colors are beautiful!

 With their friend and investigator at the park! Look at the gorgeous colors!

 Sister Chizzy says after the rainstorms it is so beautiful, and this gorgeous rainbow proves it!

 I love this picture! Out they go....off to teach the gospel!! AND THOSE LEAVES!!!! Gorgeous!

 A new member family Sister Chizzy is teaching.

 Another gorgeous "after the rain" picture.

 Sister Chisholm and her district.

 FROYO!

As a mom I prayed that my girl would get a wonderful trainer who would be patient, kind, sweet and helpful. Sister Nuttall has been amazing and Jen has learned so much from her. She can't say enough good about her and absolutely LOVES her. She is coming home on Wednesday, so she will get a new companion. We are so grateful to this sweet Sister missionary for training our greenie missionary and for loving her! She loves you, and so we do too!

Here is an excerpt from her letter this week!

This week was just dandy! :) It was transfers and I am super excited to get my new companion Sister Smith! She is going to finish training me and it's going to be great! We had some super cool experiences this week, here's just a couple to sum it up!

While door knocking the other day we knocked into this girl named Mattie, she was having a pretty bad day but then we started talking to her and she opened up a little bit and guess what? She is a runner, she runs cross country and track at her school so I related praying and coming closer to Heavenly Father to running, it was pretty cool! I didn't know that it could relate but guess what the spirit prompted me to go that way and it made sense to her! The spirit is so awesome, just saying but we had a really great conversation with her and talked for a while and then I invited her to look up Mormon.org and also to look up the song Blessings by Laura Story one of my favorites and that night she texted us telling us she had. That was definitely a cool experience. It's little moments like that that show how we are all looked out for a watched over.

Another one was on Friday we had dinner and FHE with the Lui family which they are already pretty close to my heart because they are from mainland China, but we had dinner, pizza, macaroni and cheese, pears, carrots and then pot stickers, definitely an interesting combo but super good  and then we had prepared to teach them about Moroni, definitely one of my favorite stories in the Book of Mormon but lets be real all of Alma is my favorite. I love it. Go and re read Alma its just the best way to be uplifted and also teach us some epic stuff like faith, how to be missionaries and how to be leaders. Anyways we were teaching them and they have this girl Audrey that watching over them and we invited her to come over and be part of the lesson, so Sister Nuttall gave her, her Book of Mormon to look at and her Book of Mormon is super colorful and very used cuz she goes home on Wednesday and Audrey loved it. She was super involved in the lesson and after I gave the lesson she said so what is this book and while Sister Nuttall helped clean up and everything I taught Audrey about what it was and had her read the intro and everything and she said she was going to start reading it right then and we set up an appointment with her on Tuesday. That was such a blessing! :) It was really cool, Heavenly Father places people right where he knows they need to be! I know I am where I am needed, Midland is incredible and being a missionary like my heros, Ammon, Alma, Aaron and Moroni feels like I am living in a movie. The gospel is true. I love you all! Have a great week, also here's a scripture if you are ever having a rough day, Alma 50:23!

Love Sister Chisholm