Nobody like to watch Mormon messages with me. I know someone in
probably 89% of all the movies, videos, magazines, clips, ads ect.
that the Church produces, and when I see a familiar face I like to
point it out.
It was a solid week I'm tellin ya. Hello loved ones! Hey family, I got
your package! Gracias. That was so fun to get! Thank you for the
pictures, notes, letters, art, and the darling bracelets! I jumped for
joy and then quickly hung it all up on my wall that I stare at during
studies. ;)
Heavenly Father blessed me so much this week. I have watched him
answer prayer after prayer. I want to share a few examples of this.
Número one.... I was having a hard time last week, I was struggling
having the confidence I needed to go into our lessons with so I could
teach clearly and simply. It was extremely frustrating for both me and
Sister Astle. I prayed with all my might that The Lord would help keep
my mind clear and I could teach with power and simplicity. One morning
as I was preparing to go to a lesson with an investigator I prayed
specifically for these blessings in this lesson. We taught the
restoration. I was able to teach Tracy clearly and simple doctrine and
as I recited the first vision to her from memory the spirit was able
to bare strong witness to her. I was so relieved and soon as we walked
out of Tracy's home I knelt and thanked my Father in Heaven for
keeping his promises, and loosened my tongue.
Número two.... I told you all that I missed the temple. Well I missed
it so bad I asked my father in Heaven to help me some how get down to
the city so I could go. Miracles do happen folks. Right now I am on my
way to the temple [well by the time you get this I will have already
gone] Sister Davis offered to take Sister Astle and I. I know this is
my Father answering my plea.
Número three..... We have been meeting with a less active named Helen.
She is absolutely wonderful. Her husband, Rudy, isn't a member and is
pretty disgusted with the whole "Mormon deal". He wouldn't ever talk
to us when we would showed up. He is a pretty small, old, stubborn,
Italian man. Recently we have been doing some family history work
with Helen and yesterday when we went over The Lord decided it was
time to soften Rudy's heart, he wants to do family history with
Helen!! Bahhh! We were dumbstruck. Even Helen was shocked. This was an
answer to our prayers.
Número four.... We got to call Marietta! She is doing so well. She is
definitely bringing some New Yorker umph to her new ward. :) It was
the biggest comfort talking to Marietta and to know that she is still
cleaving to the tools that will help her endure to the end.
Número five..... Danielle. 19 year old girl who was inspired to wake
up last Sunday and walk into the closest church she could find. That
was the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saint. We got her number
and since this past Sunday we have been able to meet with her twice
and yesterday we were able to set a baptismal date! She has had a hard
life and to see the hope the Savior brings to her and her life is the
most divine thing I've ever witnessed. I am so proud of her. She is
working really hard to quit smoking so the date is set for September
21.
"The feeling of love from our Heavenly Father is like a gravitational
pull from heaven. As we remove the distractions that pull us toward
the world and exercise our agency to seek Him, we open our hearts to a
celestial force which draws us toward Him. Nephi described its impact
as “even unto the consuming of [his] flesh” (2 Nephi 4:21). -Elder
Paul E. Koelliker
[He Truly Loves Us]
http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2012/04/he-truly-loves-us?lang=eng
Okay now I'm ready to share my nightmare for the week. In all
seriousness, it was a nightmare. First off I must specify that I
strongly dislike ground beef. There is something about it that freaks
me out and it doesn't even taste good [sorry if that hurt]. Now try to
picture this. Sister Astle and I just left a lunch appointment with a
less active member. She had boughten us two huge pizzas after working
in her yard. The pizza was so yummy and our bellies were poppin, and a
little uncomfortably so. We got in our car to head to our next
appointment at our dear Mildred's home. We got there and the almost
the exact moment we sat down Milly started to tell us about the
spaghetti she has just made to last her for the month.... "No. No. No.
No." That's what was going through my head. It wasn't to much longer
after when she offered us some. At first we kinda just tried to ignore
the question, then we pretended we couldn't understand what she was
asking... That didn't work... So then suddenly we "lost" our hearing.
She wasn't giving up. The longest three minutes of my life passed and
then Sister Astle caved. She replied with a solemn "sure Milly, we
would love some." I started to cry as Milly shuffled past me into the
kitchen. She plopped a ladle full of saucy noodles and then came the
soggy ball of the meat that makes my skin crawl. She threw it into the
microwave and then tossed it onto the table in front of us. We started
to eat. I tried to just spread it out on my plate but Milly noticed
and yelled "you chose to eat, now eat!!" She then proceeded to open
her 1900 fridge and show us the pan full of uncovered spaghetti. I
won't go into to much more detail but I don't think I will ever
willing choose to have spaghetti and meatballs ever again. It was a
nightmare and my tummy hated me for the few days that followed.
I love New York. I feel so blessed to be out here around these people.
Glory be to God, for this is his work. Thank you for your prayers, I
know the things I see and am able to do is not only Heavenly Father
answering my prayers but yours as well. I love you. I will talk to you
next week. XO
Love, Sister Checketts
PRAYER ROLL:
Zuley- She will find a place to live.
Tracy & Daughter- Read the Book of Mormon. Come to Church. Return to health.
Danielle- Strength to quit smoking. Peace to prepare for baptism.
Dulce- Wont be scared to go into the waters of baptism.
Rudy- We will be able to do family history work with him.
Shenickqua- She will feel the truthfulness of this Gospel
Word got around that I sew.... I told them "Not a good idea". I now
have five pairs of dress pants to hem or stitch up. I hope they know
they'll probably be wearing floods for the rest of their missions.
"Say Hello to my people!" (Name that song) Here we are again. This
past week I seriously can't remember. It was a hard working week and a
hard week for me emotionally. It was the first week we went beyond our
goals that we set! We set a goal for 23 lessons taught and we taught
24! Wahoo! So that is exciting. :)
We've had a car fast the past two days (no driving our cars
whatsoever). It has been enforced by President Morgan. There has been
8 preventable accidents in the mission in the last 3 weeks, so we
needed to do a little repenting... While we walk. It's been crazy. Our
area is HUGE and we don't have bikes so when there aren't cars we
either walk to try to find rides from members. I am beginning to
realize more and more what a luxury mission I am in. Needless to say I
am grateful that we will be getting our cars back tomorrow, although,
from now on we have to set aside one day out of the week for a car
fast. Bring it on like donkey kong. ;)
UPDATE: Marietta made it safe and sound to Arizona. We called her
Bishop a head of time to give him a heads up that she was coming. We
are able to to keep in contact with her so we have been emailing. This
is what she emailed us last night... "Bishop Dykens ask if I would be
at church on Sunday I said where else would I be...." I seriously love
this lady. We have another new investigator!! Her name is Tracey. She
is crazy but has also been so prepared to hear and accept this gospel.
She even calls us to check in or make appointments, it's pretty much
the best. She has one daughter and a husband. I really hope we can
start teaching all of them together as a family, I really want to
teach a family. Beryl is getting baptized! For those of you who don't
remember we had a bap date for her almost as soon as I got here but
she moved out of my area and things got postponed. (She is the one who
took out all her piercings in a lesson) The other sisters picked her
up and now she is getting things ready. President gave us permission
to go see her get baptized so I'm super happy about that. Amazing
people out here and we are teaching and meeting with so many I don't
even know where to begin.
Familia!! Good job on the missionary work in Sandy! I am so proud of
you for opening your mouths, fellowshipping and friend-shipping. Keep
it up and keep me updated! We really are all in this together [cheesy?
You'll have to get over it]. Thank you [specifically Dad and Emma] for
the pictures. I LOVE them, so keep em comin.
Once upon a time Sister Astle and I decided it would be cool to go for
a walk..... In a new area we hadn't been to before..... At 8pm at
night..... Next thing you know we are calling our District leader
because we are lost and it is almost 9:30pm. Oops. Silly Sisters.
Today, I want my sisters [EMMA. CYNTHIA. MEREDITH. VIVIAN] to know how
much I love my mission. Although I have seriously been out for no time
at all I can see how this calling has and will continue to bless my
life. I love being a Latter Day Saint Woman but especially now being
called to represent our savior. Whether or not we as sisters serve a
full time mission we must strive to always be a missionary, I have a
strong testimony that The Lord needs his Latter Day Saint women to
stand tall and work hard to build up the kingdom of God. Whadda say
Emma? Cynthia? Meredith? Vivian? You with me?
How do you define the Doctrine of Christ? How does the Doctrine of
Christ define you?
Phew. I think that is all.... Please let me know if you think I'm
leaving something out or you have questions. I really really love you
and I miss some of you, I guess. ;) Keep praying for the missionaries
and for missionary opportunities. I'll look forward to hearing about
them! Till next week! XO
Love, Seester CheckettsI made
Milly a birthday card.... I forgot she can't read. Oh well.
Sittin at the church
Zone conference!!
I got to the bottom of my bag of trail mix and what did I find? The
biggest earwig bug of my life. Yummy.
Dear Family & Friends, today feels like a much needed preparation day
since last pday we were sitting in a meeting or a car all day. BUT it
has been a good week, so very many blessing have i witnessed as Sister
Astle and I have strived to do His will and work.
Marietta was baptized on the 27th. For those of you who can relate....
Baptisms for missionaries are nuts! So much stress, but it is all
worth it. I will never ever forget looking into Marietta's eyes as she
stood there in the font. Oh what joy her face held. The spirit was so
strong and I knew, Marietta knew, everyone knew! That this is the one
and only way to obtain celestial glory. I was overcome with peace and
gratitude for my knowledge of this and to be able to watch someone
choose it for themselves. I love Marietta, and I don't think I
mentioned this but she is actually moving to Arizona in a few days so
I am VERY sad to see her go. She took such good care of me and helped
my testimony strengthen. It's a good thing I know that if I don't see
her again in this life, I'll be sure to see her in the next. :)
We got a new investigator and she is G O L D E N. Her name is Dulce.
She is 13 years old. She comes from a Spanish family and she is the
only one who speaks English. The Spanish Elders found her and her
family and since she is a single female they gave her to us. Yay! The
Spanish Elders are teaching the family and we are teaching Dulce.
Dulce has been prepared by The Lord to hear, receive and accept the
Gospel. She has a baptismal date for August 13!! She has a fear of the
water but wants to be baptized so please pray for her!
Sister Astle is driving while I am writing. She just hit a bird.
We do a lot of service out here in New York and since I live right in
the middle of thick forest farm town we do a lot of farming. It is the
best. We go to a members home, The Phillips, every Saturday and help
them on their farm. Sister Astle and I are usually assigned to weed
the rows of veggies in the garden [Credit to Mom for teaching me how
to be a A+ weeder], and the Elders do the heavy labor. I love it, I
get to just be under the sun and in my own little world thinking about
life, nature, my mission, and receiving my own bits of revelation.
This past Saturday I might have zoned out a bit to much because later
that night I found that I had walked through a garden of poison ivy
and managed to be eaten alive by spiders.... Yup. My body is a red,
itchy, bumpy mess. ;) All is well.
I am finally entering the stage of my mission where my dreams consist
of nothing but teaching investigators... It's awesome, i get some good
revelation from it. :)
My testimony of the Restoration grows more and more everyday. I know
the Book or Mormon is the word of God and it was translated by Joseph
Smith, it is the keystone of our religion. It has brought me more
peace in my life than I can begin to explain to you. If I were to
recall to you some of the most spiritual moments in my life it would
be while reading from the Book of Mormon. I love it and I love how
close I feel to my father in Heaven when I read it. When did you gain
a testimony of the Book of Mormon?
I love you all so much, I failed to mention that last time and it
bugged me all week. Know that I love you and pray for all of you. Viv,
thanks for taking time to write me it was so nice to hear from you.
Shout out to my Miranda.... Or should I say Sister Brayton!! She is
preachin the good news in Russia. She will be a wonderful missionary.
Have a good week, I'll talk to you next. Adios. XO
Love, Sister Checketts
"In my deepest, darkest moments, what really got me through was a
prayer. Sometimes my prayer was 'Help me.' Sometimes a prayer was
'Thank you.' What I've discovered is that intimate connection and
communication with my creator will always get me through because I
know my support, my help, is just a prayer away."
Iyanla Vanzant
{quote cred: Aimee Ladow}
