Hello everyone!!!! :) First off.. Merry Christmas!!!! yay!!! What a wonderful time of year! I love this time of year more then any other time, the spirit is stronger, people are nicer and truly it's the time of our Saviors birth!! :D I hope that you all are having a very merry Christmas week and that you are happy and with your families! :)
Well what a week it has been out here in Traverse City!! Oh my goodness gracious, we started off with a bang.. leaving our keys in Lansing!!! What?!?! haha the assistants forget to get them to us so we wound up staying in a hotel our first night here in TC! What an adventure that was, not complaining though, we got free breakfast and super super nice beds to sleep in! :) haha We got our keys on Friday and then all was well, our apartment definitely needed some sisterly love, it's brand new! So we spent some of the morning today decorating it!! :) Sister Jackson is my new greenie! She is so sweet, from Washington state and is just as green as you could get out! She is the sweetest though and I know over time she will feel confident in her missionary name tag! :D We door knocked quite a bit over the past few days and have met some really nice people so far and walked up some huge drive ways! :D We also got a media referral our first day here!! #miraclesarereal I know that the Lord watches over us every second of the day, He has definitely been helping me a ton the past few days! The Atonement of Jesus Christ is real and is available for each of us as long as we are willing to listen and follow! I am so grateful for this gospel, it truly brings me so much peace! :)
So earlier this week I was able to stay in Lansing, one of my past areas for a few days and that was great!! It was such a great experience we were able to see some people that I have missed a lot and it was neat to see them and how much they have changed and grown over the past 8 or so months! I loved it! Sister Nelson was my companion and she is hilarious!! We laughed a bunch and saw so many miracles we picked up 2 new investigators and met so many cool people! :D
On Saturday Sister Jackson and I were out door knocking and it was like 20 degrees out, which isn't too bad but it hasn't been cold at all yet so we were pretty chilled! Anyways, we knock on this guys door and he was just not super nice.. so then we walk out to the street and Sister Jackson wasn't doing too hot, so we talked for a bit, and we were about to go home when and then Heavenly FAther told us that we needed to knock on another door, so we did. and That wonderful women let us into her house and we got to teach her a bit about the plan of salvation and we were able to invite her to church and get warm as well! That was such an answer to prayer, we are going to teach her again on Saturday and man, does she need the gospel! :) I loved that moment, I am so grateful for the spirit and the way it leads our every move!
Church was great!! Our branch is HUGE!! it has over 500 people in it about 150 are active but still! That's a big branch!! Everyone is SO sweet, and so welcoming I am excited to get to know everyone even better! It was so wonderful to partake of the sacrament and to sing Christmas carols! The gospel is true, this is the Lords church on the earth today! I love my Father in Heaven and my Savior and I am so thankful they let me be a part of the their work!!
Merry Christmas everyone!! Have a great week!!!!! :D
Love Sister Chisholm! <3
My baby Sister Jackson!! :)
The hotel room they got to stay in since they left their keys in Lansing...she was SO excited about the soft beds!
12/28
Hello everyone!!!!! I hope you had the greatest Christmas ever, and if not then I hope at least it was filled with happiness, joy and family! :D I know mine was!! I loved being able to reflect on my Saviors birth and to recommit to myself and my Father in Heaven to always remember this season and keep the spirit of Christmas in my heart for the entire year! :) We had a great week filled with Christmas parties with missionaries, face timing home on Christmas... Best present EVER!!! :D Door knocking and lots of contacting of less actives and helping members fulfill their role as missionaries, it was great! :) And the theme that we set earlier this week worked so perfectly as well! :)
So today I want to talk a little bit about courage, what a fitting topic because this week it turns into 2016 and we all will be setting goals for this upcoming year to become better people. I know for myself sometimes I set goals and then they don't exactly follow through... I start to do them but then something happens or someone changes my opinion or my thoughts. I want to invite all of you to not worry about what others think about your goals, set them high, and set them with your Father In Heaven I know He will help you accomplish them! :D
So talking about courage, it takes courage to stand up for what is right. Sometimes it's really hard to take a stand, and to be an example. I mean we walk up to totally random strangers every single day and talk about the gospel of Jesus Christ with them, is that scary? At times yes, but because we have a testimony and because we Love the Lord it makes it much easier. However, courage is more then just standing up for what is right. For me often times courage is not fearing what man can do, or what man says. One of my favorite quotes is... Courage is the form of every virtue at its testing point! We cannot let the world tear us down, we must instead listen to the spirit and follow it's promptings. This past week I have been reading in the Book of Mormon about Moroni.. by the way.. reading the Book of Mormon is a great goal to have for the year 2016! :) Anyways, Moroni is one of my favorite people in the Book of Mormon, I love the courage that he has and that he shows forth to his people. He never backs down, he doesn't worry bout what the world thinks but only about what God thinks. In Moroni 8:16 we learn that he fears not man but only God. Do we fear man? Or do we fear God?
I know that for me often times having courage takes a lot of faith, but as we exercise our faith in Jesus Christ and truth our Father in Heaven we will be able to stand up for what is right, we will be able to withstand tempation and we will be able to over come sin and satan. This year stand up for what is right, have courage to forgive, have courage to smile at the stranger, have courage to say your sorry and have courage to share the gospel! :) I will be working on having courage as well and I know and can promise that when we exercise a little courage the Lord will help us through! :)
I love you all!! I hope you have a wonderful week! <3
Sister Chisholm! <3
another way to show courage is sharing pictures in front of the church on facebook!!! :)
The little branch building in Traverse City with some very hard working, dedicated missionaries out front!
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