Smile as you go and YAY!!! BAPTISM WEEK!

April 20

Hey Everyone! I hope you weeks have all been great! I don't have a ton of time today but I wanted to share a really cool experience with you all! :)

Yesterday Sister Chugg and I were out door knocking trying to find people to teach and we have really been trying to use pamphlets at door steps! Throughout my mission I have gotten in a terrible habit of not teaching as much as I could when I am on door steps sometimes I get nervous of what they are going to say or I just can't think of the words to say, so I have really been working hard and praying a lot about using the pamphlets so that we can teach when we find more fully. Anyways we were out door knocking and I jus kept praying please let me be able to use the pamphlet and share my testimony with at least one person on this street. So we kept knocking and people were not being very receptive, we kept sharing our testimonies and testifying of the Book of Mormon and also of Joseph Smith but I still didn't get the opportunity to use the pamphlet on any of the doors. Finally we were just about to leave to get to our dinner appointment and as we walked up to the last door I prayed in my heart that this person would let us teach them just a little bit at least. This old man opened the door and he we started talking to him and I asked him, why he thought there were so many churchs and he said, I don't know why?! And right then I pulled out the pamphlet and started teaching him about the priesthood and Christ establishing a church. Now this story doesn't have a fairy tale ending, the man still didn't want to listen to us, but as we walked away I felt the spirit so strongly testify to me that my Heavenly Father loves me, that he answers our prayers, even if they are little! :)

My testimony to you all today is that our Savior Lives, he loves us and he wants us to be happy! Our Father in Heaven has so many blessings he wants to bestow upon us all we need to do is ask! :) The gospel is true, it's been restored by a prophet of God and it is here in fullness today! I love you all and I hope you have a fantastic week!!

Love Sister Chisholm! <3

My favorite flower... :) Yellow Roses!! :D  

April 27 2015

Hey Everyone!! This week was AMAZING!! I mean we had a baptism of the most prepared person I have ever met in my life, but on top of that we saw some incredible miracles and we were able to fulfill our callings of being called to serve! :D Here's some of the miracles this week!

Karenn was able to be baptized and it was an incredible ceremony, it didn't go perfectly ,the water happened to be cold, we served at a huge family history seminar all day so all the members were super tired but it was amazing!!! There were more then 55 people there, the most I have ever seen at a baptism and she was just glowing. I may have cried more then once that day. Truly baptism is the first covenant we make with our Heavenly Father and being able to see someone that you taught, and helped make that commitment is the most fulfilling feeling. In our car letters it says, More happiness and joy await you.. And honestly this week I felt that, Karenns baptism was just one of the many times my Heavenly Father showed me that this truly is where I am supposed to be and what I am supposed to be doing.

I read an amazing scripture this week at the beginning of the Book of Mormon, I have just recently started it again and this time I am looking for all the times that the people are obedient and the blessings that they receive and holy cow, there are SO many times especially in the beginning with Nephi going and getting the plates and even when Lehi is obedient and actually takes his family into the wilderness, can you even imagine? Leaving everything and going to the unknown? A year ago this week I received my mission call to come to Michigan and I can tell you that I felt a bit that way, I was nervous up until the day that I got into the MTC, it terrified me to leave everything I knew, loved and cared about for a year and a half. However, it is all worth it! In the movie 17 miracles.. One of my favorites.. Sarah Franks says "It will all be worth it!" And I can truly say that my mission is so SO worth leaving everything even wakeboarding and running for a year and half, it's the best decision I have made so far in my life! :D anyways, little tangent, but truly we must be obedient even when we think it's something we can't handle! Obedience brings blessings, exact obedience brings miracles!! :D

We were serving at this great family history seminar and pretty much our job was to take down chairs and put up new chairs, it seems to be the trend with the church the joke was that as soon as we are members we get the chance to put up and take down chairs, oh and make food of course! I mean we even pray over the cookies and ice cream! :) haha I love it!!! :D Also this elder shot a water bottle cap at this eldery lady while we were directing people to classrooms.. that was pretty funny!

Anyways, this week the greatest thing I think I learned was how thankful I truly am for the prophet Joseph Smith! I am so thankful he had a question and that he turned to the Lord for helped. He was used as an instrument in restoring the gospel and because of him and his obedience and hard work the gospel in it's fullness is on the earth. I am thankful to testify of this wonderful truth every single day!!! :D the gospel is true, I LOVE MY MISSION!!! :D

Love Sister Chisholm! <3

Karenn, doesn't she just glow??! :D

A very Happy Happy Baptism Day for Karenn!

 Hooray for Springtime!

 A gorgeous Michigan sky! The road the mission home is on in Lansing.

 This is someone they have been working with a lot to help her stop smoking. They spend a lot of time with her and love her so much!

A great P-day activity was going to a butterfly farm!

Easter, Conference, Rain and teaching!

April 13 2015

Our cute girl is doing great! We got some great letters from her these last few weeks. This excerpt was from one, I LOVE how she is so bold and not nervous to testify to anyone about the gospel!

We also had some really cool experiences with people that don't believe in God, we probably met 15 different atheists or agnostics this week. Usually they are pretty nice to us though, on Wednesday we met two in a row the first one we talked to for quite a while and after we talked to him about God and his plan we invited him to pray and he said he would try. I thought that was pretty neat, for someone that has never even believed a God is there to take a step and pray, I think that is pretty amazing. Then the next door the guy we met wasn't as nice but after talking to the first guy I decided I needed to do what Ammon and Aaron do in the scriptures and do my best to rely to him the Plan of Salvation and so that's what I did. Sister Chugg talked a little bit and testified that God loves him but it was amazing to teach him about the Plan of Salvation, he didn't really want anything to do with us but he listened and I felt really bold when I said, what if we are right and what if at the last day you have to stand before God and tell him how sorry you are about not believing in Him? I know that we will be judged for our works, and how blessed we are to live our lives with that in mind.

Then this is her big email to everyone from the last two weeks! She would love letters! 

Hey everyone! I hope you all had amazing Easter/ Conference weekends, and that is was focused on our Savior Jesus Christ. I sure did! :) I loved conference, isn't it amazing that we get to hear from the living prophet every 6 months and all the leaders of the church? We are so blessed to live in such a wonderful time. :D

I loved conference some of the things that I took away is that we must build our foundations on Christ and not let anything change it. When hard times come we must stick to the things we know. One of the night this week I was able to write down my testimony, and can I just tell you that there is something powerful in just writing down the things that you know to be true with all your heart. Stick to the things that you know to be true and then build off them. Sister Wixoms talk really made me rethink that things that I know to be true and that we have to build upon what we know and we don't know what we know we can find it! :) I also loved the talk about dancing and how we can teach the dance steps but we must let the music touch hearts so that they can learn themselves! I completely applied this to my life as a missionary, we can teach everyone all that we want but unless they feel the spirit they will not be converted to God.

I loved conference and I loved Easter Sunday, what an incredible day to remember our Savior Atonement for each of us. I am grateful for the Atonement every single day, it blesses my life and I know that as we rely on our Savior and are obedient to his commandments we will find peace, peace that passes all our understanding!

The work continues here in Lansing! :) Sister Chugg and I are staying together another transfer and we are excited to see miracles this transfer! Our investigators are doing great, Marji came to conference yesterday which was a tender mercy in of itself! Karen also watched conference! I am so excited to see her baptized later this month! She is incredible!! :D Our other investigators are all progressing right along as well. I know that Heavenly Father prepares his children for this gospel. It changes lives, it truly is the only way to find real peace and love! I am grateful for this gospel in my life and for this marvelous work!!! :D

I am one of the 85,00 missionaries, what an honor!! :D

Have a great week!! :D

Love Sister Chisholm <3

Sister Chizzy with her Easter basket! (her favorite color is yellow, so we sent her an all yellow basket to remind her to let the SON-shine in!

It looks like she got another cute basket from her companions family or a family in her ward, I love that other moms take care of my girl!

The cute missionaries in her district!

April 6 2015

Hey everyone! :) It's been a beautiful week here in East Lansing! We had some great rain storms, some wonderful sunshine and some amazing miracles happen! I hope you all have seen miracles in your lives as well. They truly are there and our Heavenly Father truly loves to show us tender mercies and help us see his love.

I want to share a quote with all of you, it's by Elder Holland, we can thank my amazing mother for sending me a quote book full of his quotes, anyways it says, "No one of us is less treasured or cherished of God than another. I testify that he loves each of us-insecurities, anxieties, poor self-image and all. He doesn't measure our talents or our looks; he doesn't measure our professions or our possessions. He cheers on every runner, calling out that the race is against sin, not against each other."

I love this quote, one because it talks about running, but more importantly because I have come to find for myself that this is true. I know that my Heavenly Father loves me, he wants me to succeed and he loves me more then I can even comprehend.

This morning Sister Chugg and I practice taught the Plan of Salvation during companion study and this week we have met a lot of people that either don't believe in Christ or even God in general or they don't think we need to do certain things in this life to return to Gods presence. As we practice taught this incredible Plan of Happiness that our Heavenly Father has give to us I truly thought about our Savior Jesus Christ and how it's only through his Atonement that we can be clean and return to live with him again, how wonderful it is to know this!!! I named my email Begin with the End in Mind because this week I have been saying this a lot, it works for planning lessons, talking to people on door steps, and guess what we started this life with the end in mind. Before we came to this earth our Heavenly Father gave us the choice to come to earth, we knew it wouldn't be easy but he knew we could do it, he had faith in us. We must have faith in ourselves. If we live each day with the thought, "is what I am doing right now helping me make it to my goal of living with my Heavenly Father, my family and my loved ones forever?" If the answer is yes, continue to press forward and strengthen your testimony of it. If the answer is no, then it's time to rethink our plans and try to find out where it is we need to be, and what it is we need to be doing to help us return to live with Him again.

I love this gospel because I am not perfect, I make mistakes as we all do but because of Jesus Christ and His Atonement I know that I can be made clean. I know that the race we are running in this life is against sin just as Elder Holland said and I know that we all can make it to the finish line, with our guardian angels on our sides and water and food at the end! :D

I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Love Sister Chisholm! <3

This is me in the rain!

She looks so happy and I love it!

 Sister Chizzy loves to cook, she says it's a stress relief, one of the things she loves to cook the most is Italian chicken with cheesy rolls and broccoli...and then she says she makes pancakes every Sunday she can...to honor our family tradition of pancakes every Sunday like we do every week! So sweet! So glad she's learning and using life skills as well as missionary skills!

Her cute little wall above her desk. I love seeing this because it lets us look into her life as a missionary a little more! (and PS, look at that awesome Payson temple pic....SO excited for it!)

There is Sunshine in my soul! Preparing for Easter!

Sister Chizzy has had a great few weeks, I feel bad I'm behind in posting (crazy little thing called life!) but she is happy and doing well! Here are some of her latest adventures!

March 30

Hey everyone!! :D

 I hope you all are preparing yourself for an amazing weekend that is to come! I know that we have a countdown to conference and to Easter, what a great time of year it is! :) I have been thinking a lot this week about personal revelation and today I read in the Bible Dictionary what it says about revelation, It says "divine revelation is one of the grandest concepts and principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ. For without it man could not be saved with any degree of salvation in the eternities."

I mean think about that for a minute, we have a loving God that helps us know his will by helping us feel of the spirit and testifying of truth through the Holy Ghost. I love that. It's amazing how much God loves us and at this amazing Easter season we are able to think about how God sent his son Jesus Christ for us to return to live with him. He overcame death so that we can all live with our Father in Heaven again, that brings me so much peace and joy.

Things are great out here in East Lansing! We almost hit a crazy fan from the MSU game this week, that was an adventure. My bets are still all in for them to win march madness! :D

Here's a story from this week, we were able to teach our investigator Karenn that is on date for April 25! She is incredible and is going to be such a great member and missionary! I mean she already invited all her friends and family to her baptism, gold star right there for sure! She is happy and is progressing a ton, I love seeing the gospel be applied into her everyday life and to see how it truly is blessing her life.

We went to this amazing Easter concert last night at our stake center, it was SO good! I have never heard such powerful singers in a church function like that. They all had amazing voices, it almost reminded me of phantom of the opera church style. Music is such a great way to feel the spirit. I love it, here are some lyrics of my favorite easter song.

Christ the Lord is Risen today Alleluia!! :D

This Easter season reflect on all the blessings our Heavenly Father has given you, he truly loves us all and wants us to be happy! I love you guys and I am so thankful for the support you give me to. This gospel is true, our Savior Jesus Christ lives and he wants us to come unto him! :) Enjoy conference! I know I will!! :D

Love Sister Chisholm! <3

March 23

Hey everyone!!!

Things are great out here in East Lansing! It's hoping with fans of MSU, I hope that you all are rooting for them because they are doing good from the sounds of things! :) Sports may be good out here but same with the missionary work!! We are seeing miracles every single day! This week had some great moments, and they continue to come! Here's a couple things that have blessed and changed my life this week!

We were walking to go and give some service to a less active in our ward and this cute elderly lady was walking to the same place so we decided to talk with her as we all walked to this building. This cute little old lady started telling us her life story and about her family and about how they all had passed on but that she knew they would all be there for her in the heaven. We asked her how old she was and she told us that she was 72 and that it was her birthday! :D Of course we sang her happy birthday and she just was so thankful that we were there to talk with her on this great day of hers! :) I thought a lot that day and this week about how small and simple things truly do help great things come to pass, in all aspects of life. :)

We had a really amazing miracle happen with a new investigator Chris! We taught her the restoration and she loved it! I hope that things progress there, she told us she was planning on coming to church so hopefully it all works out!

Our investigators are progressing well! Karenn is amazing, she seriously is going to be the best member in the world.. Well in my eyes! Jeffery is doing well! He is reading and praying just to find an answer if God is there, and we taught a lesson this week in starbucks, it's amazing to me that even in crazy places the spirit can still reside. We just must be worth to have it! That's a thought I had this week is about how truly the goal in this life when it comes down to it is if we have the spirit. If we have the spirit we make right decision, if we make right decisions we are trusted by the Lord and we will inherit eternal life. It's not a hard formula, we just have to strive everyday to be better and use the Atonement of Jesus Christ in our lives. This gospel is a life long process, but it is the greatest race we can ever run!

I love my Savior Jesus Christ and I know this is His church on the earth today! :D Have a great week everyone!! I hope you all are having sunshine in your souls wherever you may be! :D

Love Sister Chisholm

Hey everyone! Don't worry I am not breaking any rules by emailing on Tuesday but it happens to be that we had interviews with my amazing mission president yesterday so our pday happens to fall on the greenest day of the year!! :D And since I live so close to MSU campus, which happens their colors are White and Green, it literally has been a green day! :) I hope you all are having a very lucky day and that the odds are ever in your favor! I know they are in mine!

We had an incredible week! I mean I say that every week I feel like but seriously I don't think that missionaries have bad weeks, we may have some hard moments but never bad weeks! :) The greatest miracle is that Karenn is on date to be baptized!!! AHH! yay!! :) Today we talked with her again and she is planning on being baptized on April 25!! yay! I am so excited for her, she seriously is an inspiration to me! I love being able to teach her, today we taught her this amazing lesson and afterwards Sister Chugg was like, ya know I just love how strong the spirit is when we are with her, I know that feeling is because she truly is prepared and she is doing everything she can to join Christ's church and take his name upon her. It's incredible! :)

We were able to walk 4 miles on Saturday, that was awesome and it was a beautiful day a little overcast and about 50 degrees we went and  met with one of our investigators and wound up serving her for about an hour and then having a lesson! It was such a great moment, service truly is so important! I have found that when we serve we stop thinking about our own selfish desires and we start thinking about others and as soon as we do we have forgotten what we even wanted or needed! I love the scripture in Mosiah 2:17, truly when we serve others we serve God.

We were able to watch the youth theme video this week Embark and can I just say if you haven't been able to see it yet go online to like lds.org or something and watch it! Seriously we have so much technology in this day and age gotta start flooding it with goodness! :D I loved it, it may have made me cry, I mean being a missionary sometimes I cry at silly things.. :) anyways We can all spread a little goodness even if it is just posting an inspiration thing online!

All in all things are great! I love serving in East Lansing area, it's wonderful! The people are incredible and my investigators have my heart completely. the gospel is true, the book is blue and it's a beautiful day! Have a fantastic week!

Love Sister Chisholm! <3

This is my shine on oreo... :) Thanks to my great family for sending me SPRING yellow oreos!! :D

I love you MORE.....above freezing....Be bold, Be brave, Be FEARLESS!!!

So I totally just had an amazing letter all written out and it just disappeared! So bear with me cuz this one probably will not be as great as planned! :D 

this week was amazing though, we are teaching some incredible people and we are seeing success happen here in Lansing!

We had an amazing lesson with our investigator Karenn this week and she is planning on being baptized soon! She is waiting for her friend that introduced her to the church to be able to come here for it! :)

Well since I pretty much ran out of time and my email that I had ready is gone I just wanted to share with you guys something I learned this week at stake conference! :D Our Stake President talked about how we can obtain the Living Water of Christ and truly it comes by praying, morning and night, reading the scriptures, going to church and partaking of the sacrament and then by keeping the sabbath day holy! I want to add make sure to keep the commandments as well, by doing these things we will be able to have the spirit with us more fully, we will be able to have guidance in our every day lives and we will be watched over and protected from on high!

This gospel is true, I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior as he is all of yours. He truly loves us and wants us to succeed. Our Heavenly Father loves us no matter what, he wants us to be happy and by doing the things he asks we will be happy!

Have a wonderful week!! 

"Be bold, Be brave, Be fearless! " 

Love Sister Chisholm <3 

 We have an ongoing conversation about how much we love each other...to the moon and back, more than twinkies, brownies, Frozen, homemade pasta etc. She found this sign and sent it to me today. DAY MADE!!!!!

Just so you all know it got above freezing this week.. Blessing from on high!!!!!!!! 

 This cute Sister needed help with decorations to the Prom. She asked my girl to help her! These flowers are AMAZING!!!

My poor girl has a really bad cold this week....and yet, she's still smiling!!!!! Proud of her!

Every week I ask her questions...usually she does a great job at answering them! Here are some answers from this week!

Things are great out here!! :D Oh my goodness, we had a great week! Like it was SOO great, so with the car question get ready for it.. It's a blue 2014 Chevrolet cruise!!! :D It's like my baby, its even followed me from Midland to here! hahaha It's the cutest thing ever, I love it!!! We got our miles dropped this week though, which will be hard but we will be able to make it! I love driving, it is totally my stress relief! :D

Favorite meal this week, hmm.. Last night we had white chilie which was pretty good, OH! We had this super good dinner on Saturday with a family, they fed us this way good meat stuff, it tasted like the stuff dad smokes! It was delicous, I wasn't feeling way great but it was still really good! We also had corn bread and asparagus and some fruit, that was my favorite part! It was yummy! The members were so sweet to have us over, the elders came too, oh man elders are so funny! They always have something funny to talk about, we talked about mormon jokes for a while like.. Why does everyone look up to Moroni? Because he is always on the ball... :) haha funny stuff! Good times! :D 

Oh my goodness I am glad you asked about what I am studying! Actually I am totally in the war chapters of Alma!! dun dun dun.. hahaha :) I just read about Amalikiah and his evil scheme to get Lehonti down from the mountain. Last night I totally related it all to Sis Chugg about how that is us in our daily lives, satan tries to lower us little by little until finally we are down to the bottom of our mountain and then he feeds us poison by degrees like Amalikiah did to Lehonti. Sometimes I get really excited about these stories,  luckily Sis Chugg likes it! :) haha It's amazing to me how many battles the Nephites or the people of Moroni fight with the Lamenites, I also am just learning so much about battle strategies, I hope I never am put into war because I would just do all the things from the Book of Mormon!! hahaha :) 

hmm.. What is different about Michigan and Utah?! I would say the cold is one, it's like a bitter wind cold here so thats one! I also would say that all the streets are actually names!! Oh my goodness that is the hardest one for me, in Utah everything is like 400 500 600 street or whatever out here it's like Milford street and then Abott street and like all this weird stuff! I get so confused! haha :) I also love the people out here.  Everyone has a story and they all have a conversion story, I really like that a lot! :D 

LANSING LOVE!!!!!!

Howdy everyone all the way from East Lansing! :) I hope you all have had a fantastic week! I know I have! This week has been so great! I was transferred to this incredible area in East Lansing, Lansing area! It is on FIRE! Like seriously we are teaching so many people and because of Michigan State University so close by we are able to teach so many diverse people. We have a Chinese investigator, Vietnamese investigator, a autistic genius investigator and even a Korean investigator! It is amazing how the gospel can truly bless the lives of all people everywhere!

My new companion is Sister Chugg she is from Ogden Utah and is the sweetest sister in the world I am convinced that nothing can make her mad, she is very soft spoken but super funny and crazy when she is around people she knows, she has the purest testimony and a love for the gospel. I am so blessed to be able to serve alongside her! We are going to see miracles here in Lansing! :D

Our ward is full of great people! It ranges from the elderly people to the newly married people that attending MSU we are able to help a lot of less actives. There are a lot here so our days are filled with talking to people, teaching lots of lessons and finding less actives that are willing to let us in! We are working hard and seeing success! This area is so full of potential, rumor on the street is that we may get a temple in Lansing, that would be so GREAT! :D There are a lot of members and a ton of great people here!

We are teaching some wonderful people specifically, Karenn, our Korean investigator, she is incredible! Jeffery, he is a genius like literally! Marjorie which she is just the sweetest lady ever, and then we have quite a few other investigators that are going to soon be progressing! I really like it here! I am learning a ton about the area and all these new faces, being transferred truly helps you know what to work on and what things you are good at! The gospel is true, Heavenly Father truly does answer prayers and wants us all to be happy! 

Love Sister Chisholm <3

Also we totally saw these shoes hanging from the electric line.. haha funny right?! 

Sister Chugg and Chisholm

THERE'S A LOT OF SNOW IN LANSING!!!!!

I had to include this......Our girl is so excited and happy! Her enthusiasm is so contagious and we love it!!!!

Hey mom!! Oh my hannah, Lansing is AWESOME!! Like seriously, I can't even believe I am serving in a city! We are serving mostly in East Lansing but also in Lansing area, I mean talk about city! It's awesome!! I am so SO excited to serve here, it's like night and day from Midland in seriously almost every single way! 

So pretty much yes, I love Lansing my companion is Sister Chugg, she is the sweetest, kindest sister in the world, like I mean it. I don't think she can even be mad, she came out with Sister Lau so she is still pretty new, the fun part of this week has been that she really doesn't know this area like at all... At first, I felt pretty stressed but now I feel great about it. I know that this transfer is going to increase my missionary work a ton, I have to be the senior companion in an area I don't even know. I think she will come to understand this area better as well, she really leaned on her trainer a lot but I think that we will figure things out together and all will be well! I love her to death though, she seriously is amazing, very soft spoken but she has the purest testimony ever. :)

Our apartment is awesome!! We even have a gym like just a hop skip and jump away, we totally ran like twice this week too! I was so happy to be able to run on the treadmill, it made me so happy! :D Our apartment is really cute, it makes weird noises sometimes because of the cold, ya know the like 14 degrees cold! Oh my goodness we found out this week that this February is the coldest Michigan has had in the past 140 years.. It wasn't above freezing once this month!! #coldtothebone but hey it's march now and this morning it was like 31 degrees already!! Spring is a coming!!! :D And it's been super sunny lately, oh man I love the sun! We have a full time car which is super nice, we still get to walk on saturdays but that's not bad at all! It gives us some fresh air! :) All in all, I really like where we live the area is SO different than Midland, like it seriously is so different. People here are so diverse which is really cool and they are actually willing to talk to us! It's amazing!! :)

Our ward is pretty good, yesterday was interesting I won't lie. More than 75% of this ward is less active, which means we are going to be working with that a ton, and it's just so diverse. Because of the college really close to here we get a lot of members that are going to school but are married, or they are super super old single people! It's so interesting, this ward needs some kingdom builders that is for sure. I am excited to find them, I think that is what is going to help it the most! The strong members are great though, we have already had quite a few dinners which is great, and they are all really sweet. It just needs even more building, which Sister Chugg and I are here to do! :)

Our district is pretty awesome!! I don't know everyone in it yet but I do know that Elder File from the MTC is in my district! Me and him are super good friends, so I am way excited to be in his district! Our district leader seems really awesome! I really like him, he is obedient so I am happy about that! :) We are the only sisters in our district and then there are two sets of elders so that will be fun! Although we live right next to some sisters that serve at MSU, so we get to work out with them in the mornings sometimes! They are so sweet! We are seriously at the heart of the mission, the work here is SO GOOD!!! Oh my goodness seriously like so good, our ward had 5 baptisms last week and we have 3 solid progressing investigators and then like 3 other investigators that are almost progressing! It's so cool mom! We are surrounded by other missionaries and there is just so so much potential here! It's awesome!!!!! :D 

Bye Bye Midland....Hello Lansing!

February 16

Hey everyone!! This week was amazing!! :D I mean every week as a missionary is amazing but this week was seriously just great! :) Here are some of my highlights! 

We were able to go to the temple this week with our recent convert, and can I just say there is no better place in the entire world than the temple! :) I am so thankful for the House of the Lord. I felt so much peace and felt that everything in my life was just right. If you ever have a question about anything go to the temple. I promise it will lead and help you through anything you may be going through! :) I loved being able to see Nancy all in white and to share that incredible experience with her. She is so strong and I look up to her so much. 

This week we had to say goodbye to some of my favorite people in the world. Alicia and Anna our two wonderful girls from Germany went home. We had the chance to teach them all of the lessons before they went home, I am so thankful for the chance we had to meet them, love them, teach them and feel of their incredible spirits. They have changed my heart, and now part of me goes with them to Germany. As a missionary I feel like my heart is all over the entire world, is that even possible? :) I have decided as a missionary it is! :D 

We had Elder Nash of the 70 come to our mission this week and it was awesome!!! :D I mean meetings are missionaries are so SO great, we learned all about being better missionaries and something that I loved that we talked about is how angels truly do guide and direct us. I love the scripture in D&C 84:88, it made my whole week. 

Well everyone this week Valentines Day and for all of you that don't have Valentines or you are away from home I just want you to know that us missionaries are praying for you and also that you Heavenly Father loves you more than anything! He truly is always there and answers all of our prayers. I hope you all have had a wonderful week and I hope that this week is even better wherever you may be! :D 

I love this gospel, it is true. It changes lives and hearts and it has and continues to change mine! 

Love Sister Chisholm <3 

 Valentine's pancakes....she's a little like her mother.....

 Roses from her daddy on Valentines! 

 Gong to the temple!

 A wonderful day being this sweet ladies escort at the temple!

February 23

Well hey everyone! This week has been such a whirlwind! :) The crazy news is that I am leaving Midland, the city of churches and heading on down the main city here in Michigan... Lansing!! :D I am so excited for this new adventure that is set before me! I know that the Lord has a plan for each of us and that transferring is all part of our learning and progression. 

This week has been great! We have been able to teach our investigators and they are seeing progression. I am really excited for them all to move forward and continue in their testimonies. We found this amazing less active women this week that is just the sweetest lady. She is just a little lost, but I know that Heavenly Father lead up to her so that she may feel the spirit again. 

In other news I have loved serving here in Midland, and I am so excited to go and serve in Lansing. There are so many lessons and people that I have met here that have changed my life for good. I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior, our Redeemer and that he performed the Atonement so that we all may be able to become better. I know that through a prophet of God the gospel has been restored. I love my mission. I love the people here in Michigan and I am thankful for the support I receive and prayers that are said back in good ole Utah and all around the world. 

This week a scripture that has truly helped me out this week is Alma 17 vs 2-3. It is all about when Alma gets to see his friends again and he is so thankful because they are still firm in the faith. We must all strive to continue in our faith, become better disciples of Christ and to press forward. I love this work! 

This was from her letter to me this week, I had to put it on here because it was so sweet and I know she'll want to remember writing it.......

 I have loved meeting people that have such different types of backgrounds then me. They have truly changed the way I look at life. It makes me think of the song from wicked, " I heard it said, that people come into my life for a reason, bringing something we must learn, and we are lead to someone who helps us most to grow, if we let them and we help them in return... I have been changed for good." I truly feel that way right now, I am excited to leave and have adventures and to see who else I can love in Lansing but I will always have part of my heart here in Midland. <3 

My best memory of Midland, man that is a tough question. I have so many of them. Here's one that just came to my mind though, the first time we taught Jason, we had a really neat lesson with him and found out that his issue was with the priesthood, he just didn't understand that we needed authority to act in Gods name. At that moment I realized how important truly the priesthood is. Ever since then I have had such a strong testimony of the priesthood. I know that we are blessed by the priesthood and that through the priesthood we are able to receive eternal life. I have loved being able to testify of that and help others understand the importance of it. There are so many memories here in Midland though, they range from riding bikes in the pouring rain, to having hot cocoa at the jones, to teaching incredible lessons that make me cry and to feeling the spirit help lead and guide me as I am an instrument in the Lords hands. I have become a missionary here, and will take the lessons I have learned throughout the rest of my mission and for the rest of my life. 

This week I definitely felt the spirit the strongest during my blessing. It talked about angels again, which I loved and he talked about how I need to have faith to walk the unseen road. I truly loved that. This transfer I am going to work on my increasing faith and try really hard to put my full trust in the Lord and in his timing. It also talked about having courage, and that I have been a impact on my area. It also talked about my leadership here, I feel like it also was a be at peace blessing that helped me know that whatever happens is all in the Lords plan. 

So funny story from the week is Sister Lau has started calling me district mom, she keeps calling me that because she says I have a lot of love for everyone around me. I laughed but I sure do love these missionaries!

Love Sister Chisholm <3 

A satellite picture of Michigan.....chilly!!!

We received a pkg from her this week. How funny.....if you know us, you know how they butcher our name ALL THE TIME...but it's funny when the church does it too!!!!

 A great district of wonderful missionaries in Midland.

 Thanks to this great Elder for giving her a blessing she really needed this week!

Goodbye to wonderful friends who have taught her so much!

A new door approach, a funny note on her door and lots of Service!

 So this was on a doorstep this week! :O we just laughed it off, don't worry though we didn't get a "sue happy" lawyer called on us! #thisismidland 

 I finally got to make the brownies you sent me! They were a little gooey in the middle...perfect!

 Brother Pennock had a stroke last week and we had the chance to visit them and help them a little bit before they had to move to go to rehab! I LOVE this family! I will miss them so SO much! 

 This is the Hemingways! I love them! #snowbirds #goingtoflordia #maybetheywillseesistermalm

 I may or may not use a golf ball to knock on doors...........

 hahaha maybe I posed with my golf ball knocking on our apartment door.. :) Good times! :D 

Sometimes we like to take selfies in the mirror during lunch.. :) haha 

2/2/15 I LOVE my ward, seriously I will cry when I leave Midland. They are literally the best, we had dinners every single night this week and we have one every night for this upcoming week too! #fatfatfat actualy I am trying to cut down on bread, so I haven't been eating it very much at all! :) But yeah they are awesome, we had Ward Conference yesterday and it was INCREDIBLE!!! Members out here are just so strong. Our theme for this stake is 2 Nephi 31:20 which is one of my all time favorites, I am going to talk a little bit about it in my other email but yeah, the members are great! We had dinner last night with the Smith family, oh this is funny! So Alex is their daughter, she is 13 and she totally loves my box that I made, it holds my scriptures to protect them, but so she saw my family cuz you are all on the front and she was like you have super cute brother, when you come back to michigan after your mission you have to introduce me! hahaha Oh man.. She was talking about Brennan too.. That boy he just has all the girls flocking over him even the girls here in Midland!! haha :) So that was funny! We have some good times with our members, they really like having us come over and every time I feel like I am back home again because half the time the families are so darn hilarious!! :D Especially cuz like three families here have a girl that is 9 and looks just like Gracie! I can't wait for you all to meet them when we come! 

This week it hasn't been too cold, actually on Saturday, our day without a car it was almost 40 degrees! I was actually hot in my coat and scarf! We talked to 21 people that day, it was pretty great! :D 

Oh mom guess what?!?! We had a lesson with stephanie, and it was INCREDIBLE!!!! Listen to this cool story, so she has been looking for a church right? And so we came knocked on her door and stuff and then that night she was telling her husband about us and he is like is that the church that doesn't believe in Jesus Christ? And she was like oh my goodness I hope not because I won't join it if it is.. So then she said that all night she was up thinking about it and then when her husband woke up for work she sat up and was like no, they definitely believe in Jesus Christ because the church is called the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, it was so awesome. We had a great lesson with her and she is reading the book of mormon, and already downloaded the Gospel Library app. She is amazing. I am so SO excited to continue to teach her! We also taught Jason a great lesson this week, he is so incredible. I feel like they both are just so prepared it is so amazing to see! 

So here's some awesome updates!

We had district meeting on Wednesday and we got told to start using the approach on door steps of We are Your Missionaries and we are here to serve you and to invite you to learn about Christ! Okay, I LOVE!!!! Sister Lau and I have been using it all week. It just makes me think of the song Called to Serve we literally have been called to serve and now we are being told to use that as our actual approach! I love it! The assistants came to our district meeting as well, that was interesting. I know it is because of our district leader, but anyways we also learned about how we should our pamphlets more often on the door steps and in lessons! Elder Green one of the assistants talked with us about using them and I learned so much! Elder Nash is coming to our mission next week which is going to be awesome! I always learn the best when people teach me! It's great! :D 

We taught a lesson to our kind of investigators but they are Snow birds.. haha that means they leave Michigan in the winter, great name right? And so they are leaving this week.. :( They weren't really progressing but they are seriously the sweetest people ever!  I will send you some pics of them today! They are so SO sweet, and she totally has the Michigander accent. I love Michigan! :D 

We had a chance to help out at a baby shower this week! It was a members, non member sister! She is so sweet! But we got to help Sister Wheeler make the drinks, help with the games and then just be there to help set up and stuff! It was awesome! I just kept thinking about how we truly are called to serve. It makes my whole day, when we are serving others we completely forget about ourselves and it is just the best way to live life, and it helps me have true happiness! :D We also helped jump start Valerie's car! That was great!! :D I was so happy that dad taught me how to jump start cars last year! Our recent convert Patti,  had a problem with her Kidney this week, so she had to go to the doctors and get everything checked out! So she wound up calling us and we headed right over, Missionaries to the rescue! haha :) She needed to clean her house and everything so we made her dinner, cleaned, and vacuumed her house! Another time we were able to just serve. Last night we taught Heather but her little sister wouldn't go to bed so we wound up reading some bible stories to her and she just loved it! This morning Heather sent us the sweetest text about how much she appreciated it, it truly was such a great week full of service! :D There were some major ups and downs of this week but these were some of the highs! 

2/9/15  We Are YOUR missionaries, and we are here to serve you and invite you to learn about Christ.

Hey everyone! This week was amazing! :D Also that heading is totally the new way we talk to people on doorsteps, it has made me really think about why we are here on our missions! We are here to serve! It's really helped people want to talk to us a little bit more as we have been more willing to actually serve them! 

We had such a blessing this week!! We have these two girls in our ward that have been living with our Bishop and his family since I got here in September and they have been attending seminary, church, reading and everything. (Awesome right?!) So anyways Bishop didn't want us to teach them (Alicia and Anna)  out of respect of their parents in Germany and so they had just been going to seminary and doing all the things that members do and this week after having a great dinner with them and teaching their family about faith Bishop said that we could teach them!! :D For all of you on missions, this is like the best blessing ever! Investigators right in your laps! So we were able to teach them 6 lessons this week, which has been a blessing of itself to finally get to teach some lessons past the first 2 lessons! :D They are incredible, and I can't wait for them to join the church in Germany when they go home. We had a lesson with them about the commandments and we gave them these cute little heart puzzles with all of the commandments on them. It was pretty cute! :) 

We have been also working a lot with less actives and recent converts in our ward! We were able to go to dinner with a family in our ward this week the places and they had actually invited a part member family to dinner with them! It was great, Julie has been saying she is planning on coming back to church and her husband (the nonmember) Robert wanted to know when we were going to be able to have dinner with them again! :) It was such a blessing to be able to be there with them that night and to hear how they were doing and to share the "missionary" spirit with them! 

We had a great lesson with our investigator Jason this week, he is progressing so well! We actually taught him the Plan of Salvation since that last time he was taught it was back in like 2011 and he loved it! I made the cute little layout of it all and he loved all the visuals! Visuals are the best way to teach, I love the Plan of Salvation our Heavenly Father truly has given us a perfect plan and all we have to do is follow it and we will eternally happy. I am so thankful for the knowledge of this plan, families are forever! :) 

Last but not least, yesterday we had a fantastic lesson on the Book of Mormon with our investigator Penny, we hadn't been able to teach them for a bit but last time we saw them they had made the goal to read the Book of Mormon before the year was over and Penny was already to Words of Mormon! It was amazing to see her progression! :) 

I love this work! The gospel is true, the Book of Blue! Have a great week! :) 

Love Sister Chisholm <3

This is us and Anna and Alicia! 

I love them!!