Happy New Year's Eve

Why hello everybody!!! I hope that y'all are having a great holiday and that your new year is amazing!! Well due to new years I dont have much time to write today so lets proceed to the stories of the week!!

 

Story 1 The Tale of My Birthday

 

I am now officially 22!! My birthday was 1 week ago today and it was just super great! It was Pday so we did Laundry and went shopping. It was so much fun! But the best part was what we did that night. So there is this place here in Santa Fa that is called  Canyon Road. It has lots of little gallery's and shoppes on it that are really awesome. And really pricey. Well on Christmas eve they cover the whole street in luminaries (paper bags with a candle in them) and they let every one just walk the street and see all the galleries. It was just beautiful!!! The art work that they had was amazing and so pretty. It also was insanely expensive so I will probably never own any of it. But is was so much fun!! They also had free hot coco, and street performers. It was one of the best Birthdays that I have ever had!!!

 

Story 2 The Tale of Christmas

 

I am not sure if you knew this but last Wednesdays was Christmas. And it was so much fun!! We woke up early, well it was the same time that we always get up but that is still early. And we opened all of our presents, we have the best families in the whole world!! My mom made me a quilt that members of my family wrote notes on, and it is super cute!!! Thanks to any and all who helped my mom make it I love it so much!! The rest of the day consisted of 2 breakfasts, then we talked to our families. I love them so much and the kids need to stop growing already!!! They are all just to big!! Then we had 2 dinners and played Mexican train with and elderly couple in the ward. It was so much fun and I am so glad that I had this chance to spend Christmas as a missionary!

 

Story 3 The Tale of the Amazing Baptism

 

This past Saturday one of our investigators was baptized!!! Her name is Emile, she is deaf and her 6 month old son past away in February of this past year. Well the baptism went off with out a hitch, and it even started on time. sister Johnson and I gave the talks about baptism and the holy ghost. Then she was baptized and it was so goo to see her husband sign the prayer. Well after she had changed she gave one of the most beautiful testimonies that I have ever heard. She talked about her baby and how she knew that she would see him again. And that she was so excited to get sealed in the temple in 1 year. It was a beautiful service and I am honored to be apart of her journey.

 

Story 4 The Tale of Divine Intervention

 

The other night we were trying to see as many people as we could. It was the day after Christmas however so not many people were home. Well we stopped by one of our investigators houses (Anna and Chris), We knocked on the door and there was no answer. The windows were very dark and it didnt look like any one was home. So we get back in the car and start to drive away. When I get this feeling that we need to go back and knock again. I am trying to follow the spirit more closely so even though it sounded silly I turned the car around and we parked in front of there house. So we get out of the car to go and try again when a car pulls into the driveway. It is Anna and Chris coming back from dinner!!! So we stayed and talked with them for a little bit, set up a return appointment and left.It was so cool to see how following the spirit is so important! I hope that I can continue to follow his as closely as possible!

 

Well there you have it that was my week of adventures! I hope that y'all had a very Merry Christmas and also a very Happy New Year!!! I love you so much and cant wait to hear from y'all soon!!!

 

Love Sister Chatwin

Jenna's Birthday

Hello family !!! How are you all doing and I hope that you all excited for Christmas tomorrow !!!! Man I cant believe that it is Christmas again!! And how on earth am I 22?!?! Sister Johnson keeps singing the Taylor Swift song about being 22. I don't really know the song but I do really feel old.. Time just flies by way to fast, and if you don't stop to take a look at it you may miss something. I cant believe that this time last year I had no idea where I would be going in my mission. And whats even crazier is that this time next year I will be home!!! I just cant believe how fast the time goes. I wish that I had a time turner or a Tardis so that I could go back and see all the fun times that we have had. Well I cant wait to see y'all tomorrow!!! I just cant wait to see how much the kids have grown, and to just hear y'alls voices!! Well I will skip the pleasantry's because we can do that tomorrow!! So on to the stories of the week!  

Story 1 The Tale of the Carol Tracting 

Since it is the holiday season, we are trying to talk to as many people as we possible can. Well on of the companionship of sisters that we cover told us that they would go up and just start singing Christmas songs when they open the door. So we have been trying it, with mixed success. We have talked to several people including a priest who wants us to be on his YouTube channel about religion. Because we are the first sister missionaries for the Mormon church that he has ever met. We will have to get permission from president but I think it would be very fun to do. Then we tracted in to this lady who as we are singing she leaves the door open, walks to the kitchen, brings out a plat of homemade donuts. She then proceeds to give us one and then close the door while we are in the middle of singing Away in a manger. Kind of awkward, but hey it counted because we put forth the effort. And not only did we get donuts we also got mini pies from a very nice lady. The most awkward ones though are the ones where they just open the door, and stare at you the who time that you are singing. Then when you are done they quickly close the door. Its a good thing that I kind of like Christmas songs, yeah just kind of ;) Because some people are not very nice, but most will at least stand there and listen. 

Story 2 The Tale of the HOT TAMALES 

Well first off let me just start by saying that we have tons of less/ inactive people in our ward. We usually have about 200-300 people there on Sundays, well there are over 1000 people on the rolls. So needless to say that we do loads of less active work. One of the sisters that we are working with is and old Navajo woman who likes us to call her Grandma. Well we asked if there was anything that we could do for her, and she said that she needed help making tamales. So we went to her house on Thursday and helped her make them. It was so much fun and so simple to out them together. She had soaked the husks and made the masa before we got there, all we had to do was to put them together. We made an assembly line and put them together. It took us a little over 2 hours to make 2 dozen tamales. She gave us some to take home and eat, they were so good!!!! We will have to make them when I get home!! 

Story 3 The Tale of the Festivus Day Miracle     

We are teaching a mother and her son, named Anna and Chris. They are very hard to make appointments with because she is so busy with the holidays. So we have just been stopping by to see if we can catch her. Well last night we stopped by announced just to see if they were home to see how they were doing. They were home so they let us in to talk with them for a minute, and in the middle of the room is this long metal pole. Well I automatically think of festivus, but I don't want to be wrong. Turns out Chris and his friend were in the middle of there festivus party!! They had just finished the airing of the grievousness, and were just about to begin the feats of strength. Oh I laughed so hard, and they were very surprised that I knew about festivus. But they are doing really well and progressing every time that we go over. We are hoping that after the holidays we will be able to meet with them more regularly!           

Story 4 The Tale of the Christmas Day Miracle

Do y'all remember the lady I was talking about a few weeks ago ? Her name is Emilie Widing, she is deaf , and lost her 6 months old son in February to an unknown virus. Well she has been struggling with the decision to be baptized, mainly because she was raised baptist. And just so you know they really dont like the LDS faith. She was struggling with over coming all of the things that she was told when she was younger. She has been doing very well but was still to nervous to make that final "plunge" and get baptized. but after she thought about it and prayed about it she has finally decided to be baptized on Saturday!!!! We are so excited for her and I feel so blessed that I have been able to be a part of her journey to christ. I am so glad that I belong to a family who has been sealed by the priesthood power. I know that I will see Makenna, Granny and Grandpa again because of that. I am so grateful for parents who were married in the temple and that they have taught all of there kids about the temple. As of right know all of my family has gone through the temple. I was so sad that I was not able to be there, but I am so proud that she was worthy to go. I will forever be grateful for my eternal family. 

Well that was my week. Again its kind of short but I will see all of you tomorrow!!! We will be able to Skype at noon!! So be ready and I will call you. If possible we should use facetime. Apparently it is better than skype, but if that does not work then skype will do!! I am so excited to see y'all!! I hope that you have a very Merry Christmas!! I am so grateful to have you as my family!!! 

Love Sister Chatwin

P.S " I am dreaming to night, of a place I love. Even more than I usually do, and although I know it's a long way back. I promise you that I'll be home for Christmas. You can plan on me, please have snow and mistletoe and presents by the tree. Christmas Eve will find me where the love light leads. I'll be home for Christmas, in only in my dreams. If only in my dreams.      

Happy Holidays

Happy Holidays family!!! How are you all doing? How is getting everything ready for Christmas? I have yet to see pictures of your preparations in the drop box? Hopefully next week there will be more pictures of the decorations. Well This past week has again been kind of slow. The Holidays and Missionary work do not really mix well. Everyone is very busy or out of town, so things are not going as fast as we would like them to. But what can you do but wait for the time to pass. Well what have y'all been up to? I hear that Avery gets her cast off tomorrow!! It is crazy that she has had it on for 6 weeks already!! The time is just flying by, I think that someone must have switched the time to light speed. And I am pretty sure that it will be bumped up to ludicrous speed after the holidays. Time is going to just go by to fast and I will be home before you know it!!  Well how about we get on to the stories of the week!!

Story 1 The Tale of the Magic Box's 

So I am sure that you have all heard that a package from mom to me got stolen. Well turns out later in the day after I emailed we went home and found it in the office!!! I was so excited and the box was full of very cute magical decorations!! So I decorated the apartment and had so much fun doing it!! Well yesterday I got the second package of decorations that mom sent... So I decorated some more!!! My apartment looks amazing and I put pictures in the drop box so that y'all can see my amazing decorations!!!  Oh yeah and one of the pictures in the box is of me with really curly hair, I slept with curlers in my hair. The result was more than I was prepared for!!! It was so curly!!!! And when I washed it it was a complete rats nest!! And it was very painful to get out... Oh yeah I was talking about the magic Christmas box's!! Well they were amazing and mom's 12 days book is so cute!!! I love all the pictures in it of all the people that I love!!!

Story 2 The Tale of Elder Christensen

This past Saturday we had Elder Foster of the 2nd quorum of the 70 come and tour our mission. So we had a very large Christmas zone conference!! It was so much fun to see every one who is in the north part of the mission. We had car inspections which luckily we did not really have to do be cause pep boys came and did it for us. And I am sure that you all are aware that I do not know anything about cars. so this was a big blessing. Except that we had to WAX OUR CAR last p-day!! It was so cold and luckily we have very nice Elders who helped us do it. Well any way back to Elder Foster, so we had a nice lunch provided by a ward in Reo Rancho. Then we all met in in the chapel and we started our meeting. Elder Foster is an amazing man and I truly know that he is a man of god. He told us that this is the most important time in our lives and in the world. This is the last time that the lord of the vineyard will send out workers. The more he spoke the more I realized how little time we have left to tell our bothers and sisters about this good news that we have!!! Also he talked about how he knows that God loves us, and showed us a video of Joseph Millette. God told a man to go and see Joseph Millette so that he and his family could have flour to eat. God knew Joseph Millette by name, and he knows our names too. God loves us more than we can possible imagine. I know because I felt it that day and I have felt it many times on my mission, for myself and others. Remember that he loves us especially at this time of year. 

Story 2 The Tale of the Over Priced Dinner

On Tuesday of this past week we went on exchanges with the sisters from white rock. Well our dinner canceled that night but gave us 20 dollars to get dinner. So we went to the plaza and were looking at the places to eat. Well we found one and the prices looked reasonable so we went in. Well after we ordered the waitress came out with these tiny tiney plats with our food on them. It apparently was a very fancy restaurant who have really small portions. It was so fun!!! It was kind of like a date but not because we are both sisters and we are missionaries. So that would be very awkward if it were a date.

Story 4 The tale of a Young Boys Prayer

Last night we were at a less actives house teaching about christmas. We had just finished and the 6 year old wanted to say the prayer. So he leans over to his mom and whispers in her ear (this is how I helped him pray the last time we were there). And we hear him say "I pledge allgegece to the flag of the united states of america". He finished it and then said amen, and it took every ounce of skill not to say "Play Ball" !!! Haha it was so funny.

ok so that was my week and I have to run so I will talk to you all next week!! Love you!!!!

Love Sister Chatwin

The Tale of the Last 9 Months

Hello family!!! How is everybody doing? I hope that y'all are enjoying this Christmas season and that you are watching all the movies that I cant. What have y'all been up to ? Have you done any fun things yet for the holidays? Be sure to take loads of pictures so that I can see what y'all are doing! Well things here are going ok it is really cold here and no one knows how to drive in the snow, but more on that later. Anyway the work here is going great and we are teaching several families who are moving along very nicely. The holidays make things a bit hard but we are still working hard. Well how about we get on to the stories of the week!!

Story 1 The Tale of Another "Terrible" Storm 

This past Thursday we had a meeting in Albuquerque for all the zone leaders and the sister training leaders. So we get up early so that we can meet another set of sister, open the door and see that it has snowed a little less than a 1/2 a foot over night. It looked very pretty but not to bad so we headed out. Well I didnt think that it was to bad but apparently everybody else did. There were no snow plows out yet, oh and instead of putting ice on the road the put red dirt on it. I am not sure how much that helps. And everyone was going about 20 miles an hour in the free way. Well the roads really were not even that bad, because the roads had not frozen yet and the snow was very light. So I was able to go about 40 miles on the freeway and we made it to our destination on time. It is just so funny to see how people who are not used to the snow drive when there is not that much snow. 

Story 2 The Tale of the Many Meetings

So that meeting we had to go to was called MLC (mission leadership conference) I am not sure if I have told y'all about it before so I will do it quickly. MLC is were all the Zone leaders and Sister Training leaders come together and get counsel from the president. Well we talk all about the mission and what it is that the missionaries need. It is so great to get to hear things directly from president. He is such a great man and I am so grateful for all the things that he has helped the mission with.  Well one of the main things that he talked about was the destructive D's. These are things that prevent missionaries and other people not achieve there goals or reach there true potential. The are Doubt, Disbelief, Disobedience, Lack of Diligence, and Distractions. All of these thing can prevent you from felling the spirit. And if you cant feel the spirit you will not know what it is that the lord wants you to do. I really liked this part of our meeting because then president and the AP's told us that we needed to rid our selves of these things and to also help those that we have stewardship over rid themselves of theses. Our Zone leaders liked this part so much that in the Zone training the next day they asked me and sister Johnson to do a teaching on it for the whole zone. It was so amazing to see the missionaries take this in to there hearts, and they all committed to have a completely obedient transfer. This does not only apply to missionaries but also to everyone else. If you are doing any of these D's try to stop. The lord wants to bless you but he cant if you are not doing your part. 

Story 3 The Tale of the Christmas Season

This past week we had the opportunity to go on exchanges with the sisters from Toas. I got to go up to Toas and spend the day there, and it was so much fun!! There is a member up there who owns a baskin robins!!! And the missionaries can get anything that they want for free!!! It was so yummy!! Well for there trackting they would go caroling. It was just so much fun to go and sing to people and then try and share the message of the gospel. Not many people listened but we had fun anyway. Also on last Wednesday we got the opportunity to help an older lady in the ward put up her Christmas decorations. She was so excited and so grateful that we could help her. She just kept saying "I am Christmas! I am Christmas! And now so is my house!" She is a very sweet old lady and we love her very much. 

Story 4 The Tale of the Last 9 Months

Wow I can you believe that I have been gone for 9 months already?!?!? It is just so crazy to see how the time flies, but it still feels like I have not see y'all in forever. I miss y'all so much, especially with the holidays. But we all know that this is were I am supposed to be and that I will be home sooner than you think. Its still just crazy to think that I am halfway done with my mission!!! It has been a great 9 months and I am looking forward to the next 9 months. And I cant wait to see what the lord as in store for me in the future!

Well thats that :) I hope that y'all have a great week and that you all feel the Christmas spirit. Also if you send me any packadges mke them have me sign for them. Apparently one that mom sent got taken or lost in the mail. Or just pray that no one will take them . Well anyway I love you so much !!! Have a great week and I cant wait to hear from you soon. 

Love Sister Chatwin

P.S  "And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. That is what Christmas is all about Charlie Brown :)" 

The Tale of the Never Ending Thanksgiving

Hello my family how are you all doing? How was you thanksgiving? Sorry I was no there to make the pies but I will be next year!! So how are ya'all doing ? How is getting ready for Christmas? I hope that you all have fun decorating, listening to music, and watching movies!! Watch all of the movies you can because I can watch any this year.... Go figure. Well as for my I am down here in Santa Fa New Mexico, and guess what?! There are real NEWSIES down here!!! They are old men with balloons on the side of the street! I have yet to see them sing and dance so I will keep y'all posted. Well I guess that it is time for the stories of the week!!! 

Story 1 the Tale of My New Area

Santa Fa is a very interesting place. Its like stepping back in to the old west with the styles of there houses and the people that live here. Also it snowed here the Sunday before I got here, and it is all so beautiful. Except on Sunday when they had there big snow storm, the had to cancel church. Due to the fact that it snowed 1 foot. It is always so funny to see how all of these people react to the snow because they have no idea what to do with it :) But this is one place that I most defiantly becoming back to when I am done with my mission. The culture here is amazing and there are so many things to see and do that Missionaries cant do!! Manly going shopping in all the cool little stores! But all the houses look like Indian adobes, and at night they have things called luminarias all over the tops of the buildings. They are pretty much paper bags with candles in them but they look so beautiful!! 

Story 2 the Tale of My New Companara 

My new companion is Sister Johnson! Not the same sister Johnson that i had for the last 6 weeks, but a new one!! She is from Wyoming, is 21 and has been out for about 4 1/2 months. She is very nice and we are both very excited to be Sister Training Leaders together! We are over 3 companionship's and they are all spread out over the top of our mission. From White Rock, Toas, and Las Vegas!! No not the real Las Vegas there is one here in New Mexico that is very ghetto. We are very excited to go and meet all of our sisters this coming Friday when we have a zone meeting. 

Story 3 The Tale of the Awesome/ Crazy People We are Teaching

We are teaching tons of people who are very prepared! One is Emilie Wilding, her husband is a member and she has been investigating the church for a few months. She and her husband are both deaf, but there 3 kids are not. So on Tuesday nights we will go to ASL classes to see if we can learn to communicate better with her. She was raised Baptist and never really wanted anything to do with the church for the longest time. Because the Baptists really don't like us, and they think that we are crazy. But in February there 6 month old son past away, and after a few months she asked one of her friends how she could have a forever family. So we are teaching her and she is on date to be baptized on the 14th :). We are also teaching a young 13 year old girl named Jordan Holmes, sadly no relation to Sherlock. But she is a very nice girl and told her mom (who is a member) that she wanted to be baptized. She is very shy however and we are having a hard time helping her progress. So if you have any ideas on how to help us please let us know. Those two are the ones who we are working with the most, but we are teaching several other families that are just not progressing as much. We are going to have several talks with people about what our purpose is and why we are here. So I will let you know how those go. 

Story 4 

The Tale of the Never Ending Thanksgiving   
So in one of my last emails/ or letters from mom she was very worried about my thanksgiving day plans. And she had every right to be. For the first part of the day we did our normal studies and things. Then we tried to go out and find people to talk to, We were early for our lunch appointment so we stood out side and asked people what they were thankful for. The top answers were 1. Family 2. Health and 3. Crayons, a very cute little girl said that and so she won 3rd place. One man said that he did not celebrate thanksgiving because it was a very racist holiday and so he would not celebrate it. And another man said that he was thankful for love, and then came back out a few minutes later and added that he was also thankful that someday there would be no religion. Just Love.... Yeah he was crazy. Well for lunch we had a member in our ward take all the missionaries out to a buffet for lunch. And it was pretty good and the elders tried to see how much they could eat, yeah not a very good idea.

After lunch we went to the Holmes home to see how they were doing. Well they invited us in and insisted that we have lunch. So they dished us up a large plate with turkey, potatoes, and pie. 

We stayed there for a little while and then headed out to see more people. We stopped in to a less actives house and again they insisted that we have linner. so they dished us up a plate with everything on it. 

 

We did not stay there very long because they were watching football. After that we dragged our selves out the door to another appointment. And there they also insisted that we have some food.... So they dished us up another plate. The Elders who we split the ward with were there and the were on there 2nd dinner.... We felt so bad for the.... We stayed there and talked with a recent convert for a while before we headed home.

 When we finally got home we were ready to die and go to sleep, but our neighbor had other plans. they invited us in and gave us a big plate of food and this apple thingy for dessert. After we finished EVERYTHING on our plates we went home. 

    

 At the end of the day we had had 5 Thanksgiving Dinners.... And then for dinner the next day left overs. It was the longest day of my life!!! I was so tired and so full but the members would not let us say no!!! Oh man we ate so much food.

So there you have it, that was my week. And mom you did have every right to be worried about my thanksgiving, but for different reasons. Well I hope that y'all have a great week and enjoy all the Christmas spirit!!! I love you all so much and I am so excited to talk with y'all in 22 days!!! Have a great week and I hope to hear from you soon!! 

Love Sister Chatwin

"Aunt Betty will you say grace? I pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america.......and justice for all. PLAY BALL!!!!"