Life Goes On

"Ummm sister I don't think that's a design on the shower curtain... I
think it's mold....."

Hello my loved ones. I am overwhelmed [again] with the amount of love
I feel from you. Thank you for the prayers, emails, notes, I haven't
received the chocolate but I'm sure it's coming. ;) you are wonderful.

So this week was another roller coaster. I get the feeling most weeks
will pass by like so. Well last Thursday I woke up in the middle of
the night to throw up. Bummer. Big bummer. So we stayed in that day
sick. It feels awful sitting around as a missionary almost as bad as a
stomach ache. You just feel so useless and when you are feeling that
it does not help recovery. I am 99% sure the sicky came from stress.
It's hard work out here and I feel pretty emotionally and spiritually
exhausted. After a good nap, a solid cry and a long talk with my
trainer, I was feeling better. :) Sister Astle is awesome but she gets
uptight really easy and feels anxious 95% of the time and try as I
might it gets to me some days. We are both trying to work hard at
relaxing, being ourselves, having a good time, and letting The Lord
work through us.

After Thursday The Lord really picked me up as well as the work.
People have opened there homes and hearts to the message we so eagerly
want to share. I have watched The Lord answer prayer after prayer. I
probably should be doing this but I am just waiting for it to get hard
again because I has been that enjoyable. I LOVED the quote my dad sent
me this week.... " That which we persist in doing becomes easier, not
that the nature of the task has, changed, but our ability to do so has
increased." -Ralph Waldo Emerson
It's a good one and it has helped me to endure.

Sister Astle makes me laugh. The first line of this email is a true
story. I thought our shower curtain just had brown poka dots.... Nope
it was mold and Sister Astle had been showering with that for a whole
8 weeks... Not good. So we scrubbed it down with bleach. Nasty. If I
ever write home and tell you I'm going to the hospital it is most
likely because my companion ran me over while I was trying to back her
out. It is the scariest thing... I swear sometimes she is trying to
kill me. ;) good thing I love her. The way she talks she looks like a
character from Wallace and grommet.... Just think about it. It's
hilarious.

Ooh I spoke in church last Sunday! That was awesome. They kinda
tricked me into talking... They said they always do it to introduce
new missionaries, turns out none of the other missionaries in my
district had spoke. I gave the second counselor a hard time after that
but now it's a joke in the ward because I brought it up over the
pulpit. I spoke about how obedience + humility = a strong testimony.

I don't know if I mentioned but my area is new to sisters. For a long
time it was to dangerous but they just opened it up to us women folk.
It kills me though because we aren't allowed downtown where ALL the
people are because it's to dangerous. When the work is slow all I
wanna do is go contacting down there but nope. Tracking is my favorite
though, even though it gets intense sometimes we meet some amazing
people. Sometimes I feel like I am a messenger in the war and I have
to pass through enemy territory with that precious message, I feel the
pressure and importance of my journey to get it to safety but there
are so many people who want to destroy it.

Guys the New Yorker accents... It's real! Hahahaha im gonna film it
and bring it home. These people are the BEST! I am taking lessons from
a member who grew up in the Bronx's, you could say I pretty much sound
like I've lived here my whole life. ;)

Well I think that's all for this week. I love my mission. I know I am
only able to do this because of my Father in Heaven. I love you all,
you are in my prayers. If you have any questions for me let me know!
XOXO

Love, Your Seester Checketts