Chelsee Mission Update

Here's some excerpts from Chelsee's most recent letter. It's so wonderful to feel her spirit and to read her excitement! Way to be a super missionary Bones!!!

November 6, 2008
"First of all, I would like to state that I have successfully gone over 36 hours without knowing who our next President is! Sister Egan and I are in a race to see how long we can go without knowing. I know, that is pretty silly but you’ve got to come up with crazy things like that to make your days even more interesting (As if they weren’t interesting enough already!) haha! Shopping today might make it a little difficult with newspapers and magazines but we really want to get through today without knowing as well!
"Second of all, did you know that yellow sticky note pads and whites don’t mix to well in the washer??? We accidently washed a yellow stick note pad with our whites on Monday and it took 2 ½ boxes of dye removal to get the bright yellow blotches out. Now, you would never know that they were even stained. It was quite the experience. I thought I was going to have to ask for some new white shirts!
"Third of all, Holy cow, this week has been so good! We set 3 people this week for baptism. One is a woman who called us 2 weeks ago and wanted us to come and teach her. Her Brother is a member and she wants to learn about what he has. She has fully accepted everything we have taught her and is so excited and ready to get baptized on December 6th. We also set a 9 year old whose dad is less active but wants all of his family to be baptized. We are also working with his older brother who is 17 and hope to have him set for baptism on November 22 as well. The other one is a woman who the Elders had been teaching but she recently moved into our area. We have taken over the lessons and set her for November 15th. It will be a busy next few weeks! We also have 2 baptisms on Saturday, a mother and her 9 year old son. Lots and Lots and Lots of work going on.
"Hello, you would be so proud to see some of the "germy" situations I have gotten myself into. Yuck! I have touched things that I don't even want to know what they were. I have had dogs licking my face, kid’s snot rubbed all over my arms, and many many many other disgusting things. But, I just remind myself that I am doing the Lord’s work and I take a big deep breath and keep going! By the time I get home, I will be ready to be a sanitation worker!
"I can’t believe the environment some of these people live in. It really makes me grateful for a roof over my head, a heater (yes a heater, it is finally getting down to the high 50’s and it is cold), 3 meals to eat every day, shoes, a jacket, money to buy medication, and so much more. I had no idea that so many people lived this way in America. I am so grateful for the opportunity I have had to experience different cultures in our country and other countries and see so many different ways of living. I think that it has prepared me for what and who I am helping every day. There is a family that we are working with and every morning the mother tells her children to eat as much as they can at school lunch because it is the only meal that they will be getting for the day. That reminds me of my girls in Chicago who would eat as much as they could at camp because that was the only meal that they would be getting for that day. It breaks my heart to see people living that way but my sprits are lifted when I see their smiles and I am so happy when I get to help a family discover spiritual happiness verses temporal happiness in their lives.
"We had a cool experience with one of the families that we had extended a commitment to at a dinner appointment. In fact, I was the one that committed them so it makes me feel really happy! Anyway, I had committed this family to think of one person who they could pray for and ask that their heart would be softened so that Sister Egan and I could meet with them. Their whole family, even their 4 year old son included this person in their individual and family prayers, EVERY DAY! Yesterday while talking to the mom, she told us that the person who they had been praying for accepted their invitation to meet with us. She said that their family has “reaped the rewards of their labors.”
"Transfers are next week and I am praying so hard that I get to stay in Kingman. It sounds like I am going to stay from what the Zone Leaders have hinted. Hopefully Sister Egan is staying too. We both feel like we still have a lot of work to do here. I’ll let you know how it turns out! It is actually kind of funny that I started off here in Kingman because they never send “greenies” here. I have heard that everyone wants to serve in Kingman. Haha! I am so glad that I have had the opportunity to be here and I know that if I get transferred on Tuesday, I will be going where the Lord wants me to go!"