31 December 2013

FAMILY!!!!!! Guess who's coming home next week???? I may be a tiny bit over-excited to see you all.

I seriously can't believe it and I even said to one of the Sisters in my class yesterday that I think I need to have a good cry just to make it feel real!  It still doesn't feel real.

Christmas for us was amazing, especially when I got to call home.  That was so awesome!  It seemed strange finishing off the conversations after an hour by saying, "See you in two weeks!"  Weird!   Christmas Eve was so much fun where we had dinner together as a mission to kick off the celebrations and then we watched the movie,  "The Nativity" with Keisha Castle-Hughes acting as Mary.  It was a little more graphic than I remembered but still good. Then we did our Pasada where the Sisters were put into zones and then walked to different stations on Temple Square and experienced a roving Nativity spectacular.  My companion and I were based in the Assembly Hall balcony and we depicted the, "Angels" who came around the time of Christ's birth to announce the good tidings of great joy.  It was really sweet and the Spirit was super strong. I had a whole new perspective on how those poor shepherds must've felt when the angels visited them.  I'm positive for them it was an awesome experience.  Well, as we continued with the Christmas theme we sang the song, "Angels we Have Heard on High" before the sisters headed off to their next station. Special times. That was a great way to start off Christmas.  My companion and I had a neat experience prior to the Nativity.  While inside the Assembly Hall we met a family who were in Salt Lake City because their three year old son was in the hospital.  They had three other children and had brought them to the Square to see the Temple lights.  This family was really incredible and had an awesome understanding about God's will and that if it was time for their sickly son to go then there was nothing they could do about, but if it wasn't his time then the Lord would take care of everything.  They said there is no point worrying about something you have no control over.  I loved their attitude, especially at a time when we are all reflecting on the birth of our Saviour and knowing what he went through.  I gained an even greater appreciation for our Heavenly Father in following through with His great Plan of Happiness for us.  For me, it was a very special and sacred experience to meet this family and then soon after go and be the angels who announced the Savior's birth. 

Well, Christmas morning was awesome where we got to sleep in until 7:30 a.m. and then we all pitched in to make breakfast.  I had bought some croissants so I filled each one with cheese, ham and tomatoes and put them in the oven to warm up just like I was told to by my sister.  Our roommates had made french toast and Sister Magaoay and her companion made scrambled eggs.  We had a feast and then we went down to the Square so my companion could call home to her family.  After her phone call we went back home and chilled a little before returning to the Square.  This Winter there hasn't been as much snow  and  there no snow fell on Christmas day so we had tons of people come to the Square wanting to take the tours.  It was awesome!  At 5:00 p.m. we closed the gates on the Square and headed off to have Christmas dinner with the rest of our Mission then we watched an LDS film, "Christmas for a Dollar!"  It was really cute.  After the film Santa came and spoiled us with more gifts and seriously, this year I could not believe what we got in our stockings!  I will send you a picture but I am so grateful and humbled by all the kindness from those people who contributed.  Oh and to my loving Porter family, "Thank you so much for the BYU hoodie, it is so awesome and I wore it to our Christmas party!  It was so nice and warm!"  I know I have been so blessed for serving a mission and I am so happy I chose to serve.  I know that Jesus Christ is the Saviour of the World and that we don't have to wait for a national holiday to celebrate his birth. I'm grateful we can celebrate it everyday in our hearts! 

I am so happy that I have served in the best mission in the world.  No one will ever be able to understand what an awesome mission this mission is unless you serve here but for those who have followed my blog I hope you have been able to recognize how true that statement is for me.  This is a very unique mission but I'm so grateful for all the hardworking examples I've had during my mission.  I'm also very thankful that I got to serve in the South Carolina Columbia Mission. That was the icing on the cake for my mission experiences.  Nothing like a piece of humble pie when you experience being swarmed by gnats and chased by dogs.  But truly, despite the gnats and the dogs I had so many tender mercy experiences like Kaitlyn and Brian getting baptized and more to come soon!

I love this Church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Saviour will come and reign again soon and I'm excited to continue to spread His word no matter where I am. 

I love you all heaps,

Be seeing you soon!

Sister Chadderton

P.s. Pray for me, because this week is going to be crazy busy and I need my health and strength!  Our musical number at church yesterday was really beautiful and we had class photos at the flag pole this morning. This is my class clinging to the pole protesting that we do not want to leave the Square.  So crack up!  I'm gonna miss these sisters terribly!  Picture of me and then a picture of my presents in my stocking.  Another picture of Sister Back and I with President and Sister Gillette.  Oh and guess who found me this week?  "Nat & Kevin Martin!"  So awesome!!! Love you Nat xo

24 December 2013

Hi family!!!!

Merry Christmas everyone! I will try and keep this brief because guess what? I can call you tomorrow!!!!  So crazy! Just to clarify, I will be calling home at 2:00 p.m. my time which should will be 10:00 a.m. your time.  YAY!

I can't believe we have reached the Christmas week already!  I know time goes by so quickly but it feels like this month has flown by.  The past week has been busy as usual and it's been a little tricky to get a hold of some of our investigators and recent converts.  I talked to Mattie this week which was a tender mercy.   Mattie is a recent convert that was baptized when I was training Sister Pipe. I called her and learnt that she has been called as a teacher in her Relief Society class and she taught her first lesson last Sunday about Joseph Smith.  Isn't that awesome?  I love hearing from our recent converts and finding out that they are still strong. Sister Walker from the South Carolina Columbia Mission emailed me and said Brian is getting the priesthood this week!  I am so happy for him.  My heart is overflowing with joy as the Lord's blessings continue to flow in the lives of our recent converts.

My companion and I have been working on a project which is a document that records the amount of motor coaches we've had visit Temple Square throughout the year.  The document is broken down into weeks and into motor coaches that have Mandarin speaking people on them and then other languages.  It was very time consuming but awesome to see how many people from China visit the Square when they come here for a holiday.  It's incredible because from May-October we've had 2000 Mandarin speaking people come through Temple Square.  Our Mandarin speaking sister missionaries are the bomb and I believe that is how China will get the gospel. 

On Thursday we had our Relief Society class in the Relief Society Building on Temple Square and whether it was a coincident or not, but guess who came to speak for my last Relief Society? Well, no it wasn't the Prophet,  but it was Sister Linda K. Burton who is the President of the General Relief Society.  Despite the snowy day the spirit was strong in our meeting.  She talked about woman who have influenced our lives and shared stories about some of the heroes who are past Relief Society General Presidents and whose pictures hang on the wall in this huge building.  She then invited us to share about women who have influenced our lives.  Mum of course I thought about you and also Nan and Nanny Ma and so many others.  Mum, I loved reflecting upon and thinking about what you have taught me throughout my life - like putting others first even when its not convenient or comfortable for you and giving things away without even thinking about it (even when it's a new IPod Touch).  I really admire that about you mum and this week I had the opportunity to apply what I learned because a sister missionary who is here from the islands didn't have a pair of boots and she asked me if I had any spare boots. Well, I did have a spare pair and I was going to bring the brown pair home but I know they will be put to better use here.  It was a great feeling to be able to give them to this sister - just like my mum would've - and of course our Savior is the greatest example of giving and that for me is the true meaning of Christmas.  Thanks for teaching me that mum!

I wasn't feeling too good on Thursday and so I went to stay with my Zone leader who was sick too.  I slept for 3-hours straight and then we found out that because it was snowing so hard Temple Square was closed early so Sister Magaoay came over with Sister Loisotto to pick me up and take me back to our apartment complex.  I was so grateful.  It was nice to rest as I have been going hard out and my body just told me, "That's enough!"  That night we had dinner with he Schultz family.  It was so nice and the food was delicious!  We shared some of our fun Christmas traditions and they shared some fun ones too.  We played a guessing game where there were three tupperware containers and the first one was filled with goldfish (crackers), the second with Kisses and the third with M&M's.  You had to guess how many crackers, or kisses or M&M's were in each container and the person who guessed the amount closest to what was in the container was the winner.  Well, turns out that my companion and I are terrible at guessing because we didn't win a prize.  The next day Sister Schultz  turned up to the Square with another tupperware container filled with Kisses and M&M's for us.  That was so sweet and we appreciated her so much.

Friday!  You'll never believe who we had dinner with that night?  Sister Garisau that is here is from Raglan in New Zealand and her Uncles are the, "Moleni Brothers!"  Turns out that they wanted to have her over for a Christmas feed and asked if we could go too.  So,  Fisi Moleni came and picked Sister Garisau and her companion up along with Sister Vaivai and I and we went to dinner with them.  It was at a Chapel and their were lots of family members there and they had put on a mean feed.  So awesome!  They remembered the Solomon boys but more especially Uncle Rana.  They called them, "The Temple View Defenders!"  It was so nice of them to spoil us and we ate Maori bread, pulled pork, chicken, lasagna, pizza, salad, veggies, pumpkin pie, chocolate cake, ice-cream - pretty much everything!  It was just like being at home.  We rolled home after that massive feast!   The next morning Amanda found me and gave me my Christmas package. Thanks again Amanda for bringing all that home and thanks family for spoiling me so, so, so, much!  I am so grateful and I'm excited to give many of these presents to my friends. 

Well, I will call you tomorrow and talk more.  We close the Square at 5:00 p.m. tomorrow and on Christmas day so that we can have our Christmas celebrations. Tuesday will be more spiritual as we are doing a pasada and me and my companion will be the angels and the sisters will be going around in groups to meet different people from the Nativity and we will have a spiritual experience and watch Keisha Castle Hughes' version of the Nativity after. Then Wednesday we have Santa coming.  I haven't started packing and next week will be my last full week. It's so crazy!  I have my departing interview and blessing this Thursday and while it may seem a little early it's because our class is pretty big so I guess we've got to start somewhere.

I love you all and I'm really looking forward to calling home tomorrow.  Merry Christmas everyone and see you in two weeks!

Sister Chadderton

18 December 2013

Hi Family,

Thank you for all the emails and trying hard not to remind me of how little time I have left in the mission field.  It really is strange to think that the end is so near.  Crazy!!!

First things first, we get a five minute phone call home today so if anyone is home I will call around your 2:15 p.m.  So excited that Christmas is next week!

We had an awesome week in that our mission was blessed with a visit by Elder Don R. Clark who did a 3-day tour of our Mission.  My companion and I attended day two of his tour and I loved his inspirational talks.  He talked a lot about how a mission brings about a mighty change and he gave a lot of good advice for those missionaries returning home.  Mum, you'll like this part where he said, "More important than your mission is who you will marry!"  He asked the missionaries who are returning home to stand and then invited each of us to set high goals and to go on two dates a week.  Haha!  I had to laugh because I was thinking, "Aren't we meant to be learning things about missionary work here, what's going on?"  But it was perfect advice because experience has shown that those who return from their missions always have a little bit of anxiety during their transition from the mission field to going on dates.  So, his words of wisdom helped a few of us to feel more at peace about life after the mission field. This week I have really felt more at peace about finishing my full-time mission.  I really feel like I can come home with no regrets.  What a beautiful way to end my mission by celebrating our Lord and Savior's birth.  We have some fun things planned for Christmas as we focus more and more on our Savior Jesus Christ.

Volunteers from our Mission President's stake are having the missionaries from my mission over for dinner in their homes.  The missionaries will have an opportunity to share their Christmas traditions with the assigned families - similar to what we did last year.  Our District will go on Thursday night and I'm so excited about going because  I miss being in the homes of the members and sharing spiritual thoughts with them so it's going to be fun!

I bumped into a lot of familiar faces this week.  I saw Irene's little sister who was here for a YSA activity.  During this activity I met a sister who served in Jenna's mission - Boise, Idaho.  She had called me awhile back to give me a referral - her niece and the nieces husband.  It was so cool to see this sister and she kept saying how much I reminded her of Jen!  I asked what happened to her nieces husband and she said, "He ended up getting baptized!"  Isn't that awesome?  She didn't have his phone number so I was never able to follow up with them so it was a tender mercy that I got to hear it from her first hand. So cool!

We were in the West Gate booth the other night and I saw a family walk by so I smiled and waved to the little boy.  The family turned around and came back to the window and guess who it was? Jessica Millard!  So awesome!  She was with her family!  It was awesome to see them because the last time I saw them all was probably when I was aged 12 or 13.  It has been over 10 years since we saw each other so I was glad she recognized me!  She is expecting again.

My companion and I have been busy organizing covers for assignments while the Sisters go to the members houses for dinner and we had staff meeting yesterday and are looking at ways to simplify the numbers we keep track of for the New Year. That will keep us busy this week!  My departing class is also singing in sacrament meeting on December 29th and we have started practicing for that.  We have some very talented people in our class and I'm confident we will do a good job.  

I'm so grateful for my mission and what the Lord has done for me. I am constantly amazed at all He does for each of us.  He knows each of us individually.   We had a meeting yesterday entitled, "Finish Strong" which happens when you're half way through your last transfer.  It was awesome and my goal to finish this transfer strong is to think of others!  Really, I want to forget about myself and look at how I can help the sisters more before I leave.  My companions goal is to continue to help me to be so exhausted that I will want to go home to rest! Hahaha!  I love her!

Well, I hope you enjoy finishing your Christmas preparations for next week and I will talk to you all real soon.

Merry Christmas,

Love Sister Chadderton

James 5:11 "Behold, we count them happy which endure..."

10 December 2013

Happy Christmas everybody!

This week my email is  entitled, "Good Tidings of Great Joy" because its the season to be jolly and boy, am I jolly!  I have witnessed so many miracles and received so many blessings this past week and I am very grateful for the continued love of my Heavenly Father. 

I am going to share a few of the miracles with you all:

Monday night we finished our P-Day and went to work and we kept meeting up with so many adorable children.  They would see our badges and point and say, "Wow, those are missionaries!"  I had a little girl come up to me and say, "One day I want to be a missionary. How can I be a missionary now?" So cute!  We got lots of hugs from the children and it was the sweetest thing ever.  I felt soooo loved. That night we ran into the parents of one my companion's from the South Carolina Columbia Mission - Sister Walker.  Her parents and younger sister Lexi were looking for one of the Thai Sister missionaries because they wanted to give her a warm coat.  They'd found the sister missionary and when we were talking to them they invited my companion and I to have lunch with them the next day.

So, on Tuesday, after receiving permission from President Gillette we went to lunch with the Walker's at the Blue Lemon Restaurant which was awesome. I love Sister Walker because she has such a bubbly personality just like her daughter and it was cool to be at lunch with them. She even brought me the biggest bag of Peanut M&M's that I have ever seen!  We shared it with our fellow sister missionaries and still have lots left.

Wednesday we were in the office when a man by the name of Brother Westergaard - he drives people from the airport to bring them for a tour on Temple Square - came and handed me an envelope with my name on it.  He just gave it to me and left.  I had met him a week before and he'd asked me if I had a copy of the Articles of Faith in Maori.  I learnt during that visit that he had served his mission in New Zealand.  Well, I told him that I didn't have a copy of the articles of faith in Maori so inside the envelope today was, "The Articles of Faith in Maori" along with a sweet experience that he had written about from his mission days.  In his experience he shared a story about how when he was on his mission he was to be transferred but had no money for transportation.  A humble Maori member of the church gave him $11.00  because this member felt lthat this missionary needed it.  Well, inside this envelope Brother Westergaard had also enclosed a ten dollar bill and a magnet with a NZ Tiki on it.  Wow!  If I didn't already feel so loved I certainly felt it now.  I was so humbled by his kindness and kept wondering, "What have I done to deserve all these blessings?"

Thursday I was surprised to see a package addressed to me sitting on our Mail table.  It was from Kellyville 1st Ward!  So excited!  I laughed so hard when I opened the package because there was a  huge photo of me inside the box.  I have to take a picture of it and send it to you.  I was so grateful to everyone that contributed to my package.  Thank you so much for making my day Kellyville family!!!   Bishop Leota had written about all the missionary work that is happening back home in Kellyville 1st Ward and it made me so happy to hear of how everyone is working together to hasten the work and they have also witnessed baptisms! That is awesome!!!! Thanks so much everyone.

Friday night my companion went to the Latino Concert and I was on exchanges with Sister Magaoay - my little MTC companion.  We found a man on the Square who had been attending church and contemplating baptism.  He wants to be baptized for the right reasons so we told him we would be happy to phone him so he gave us his contact details.  I had the chance to call one of my other investigators in South Carolina whom I hadn't been able to get a hold of for a few weeks and she was the one who we gave the large print copy of the Book of Mormon too.  We'd also shared the Mormon Message about, "Mountains to Climb" and was surprised by everything that she had learnt.  She said she had still been reading the Book of Mormon and even downloaded it onto her kindle to read.  She asked why the missionaries hadn't come back to visit her?  I'd talked to Sister Walker who said that they went to visit her and she believes the Book of Mormon is true but that she wasn't able to make it to church but will make it soon.

I am excited to share my biggest miracle of the week which happened on Saturday.  You may remember my investigator  Brian back in the South Carolina Columbia Mission.  I had called Brian a week ago and he said he wasn't going to get baptized because he wanted to be able to quit smoking and drinking for two consecutive weeks before he was baptized.  In doing so, this meant that he could be baptized on December 7th.  I called him around his 4:00 p.m. and we were making small talk and then I said, "So Brian, when are you getting baptized?"  He then said to me, " You mean, "When am I getting confirmed?" OHHHHHHH, I was soooooo happy!  He had been baptized that morning and that was the biggest tender mercy of my life!  He was so happy and sounded like a whole new man because thats exactly what he is.  The first time I met Brian he wasn't very sober and  also smoking and now he is sober and clean every whit.  I love this gospel.  I love how it can change people's lives for the better and all they have to do is be obedient to God's commandments.  I'm so proud of him!

Sunday we continued to receive more blessings.  "Guess who came to our early morning sacrament meeting?" " Elder Quentin. L. Cook!"  He met President Gillette in the elevator after church last week and asked if he wouldn't mind if he joined us so he could partake of the Sacrament and then go and attend all of his other meetings in the day.  It was so cool to have an apostle sitting with us in our Sunday meetings.  It was a wonderful sacrament meeting.  The day was filled with lots of wonderful experiences - we went to Music and the Spoken Word Christmas special which was fun, had our staff meeting after where I was asked to give the spiritual thought.  Later on in the day the whole mission was to attend the Christmas devotional and because of this a BYU YSA Ward was invited to cover the Square for us while we went.  Guess who was asked to train up the YSA? Yup!  My companion and I were asked to do the training and we had almost 200 YSA volunteers turn up with about 6-8 returned Temple Square missionaries who had also come to help out.  It was really awesome to have the RM's back on the Square to help.  They were  Sister Jardine, Sister McKay, Sister Hinton, Sister Yazzie, Sister Aranda, Sister Ibarra, Sister Palmer, Sister Christensen and Sister Fredrickson. It was more like a fun mini reunion with many of these sisters having been my leaders at the start of my mission.   We got through the training and knew that the Square was going to be in safe hands for an hour!

Well, I've had a wonderful week and my companion and I are certainly feeling strengthened beyond doubt as we've witnessed the Lord's hand where in carrying us during those times where we've almost had no energy left to continue on.  We slept well last night and attended the temple this morning.  It has been such a wonderful week. I am definitely feeling the Christmas spirit and recognize the Lord's hand in everything. 

I love you all and pray that you may continue to recognize the miracles in your life and have good tidings and experience great joy just like I have this past week.  

Love Sister Chadderton

8 Decembeer 2013

Aloha everyone!

This truly has been one of the busiest weeks of my mission!  Transfers happened, we completed all of the Christmas schedules for all of the sister missionaries - including the Christmas assignments.  We had a few hiccups but overall everything worked out nicely. The weeks are going by way too fast.

 Last Wednesday I said goodbye to my companion Sister Vach.  Thursday we had Thanksgiving at Noah's Ark and I didn't think it was possible, but I thought this years Thanksgiving celebration was even better than last years!!!!  We all came together and performed a thanksgiving skit, sang karaoke, had a HUGE feast, made Christmas ornaments - with our pictures and flags - while we watched the movie, "Monsters University!"  That movie was hilarious!!!  I was so happy we got to watch it because I think I laughed the whole time.  It was so good.  Mum, I hope you have that movie at home because I so want to watch it again.  We also did some line dancing and played Wallyball with President Seppi.  It is one of his favorite games at Noah's Ark so I texted a few of the keen players to bring either a black or white shirt and the players in a white shirt were part of, "Team Seppi's"  group.  Heaps of fun!  On the roof top of Noah's is an ice-skating rink where we all hung out and enjoyed ourselves too.  So, it was pretty much the best thanksgiving/mission activity EVER.  So much fun!  I was so exhausted the next day but we had much to do because the Christmas lights were due to be switched on that night.  We are the, "behind the scenes crew" on Temple Square so we had to find a mission microphone, fix a movie that had stopped working, teach the sisters how to effectively control the mobs at the Christus Statue (located in the North Visitor's Centre) which kept us busy for the entire night.  

Friday morning was awesome because I got to take Uncle TC, Aunty Cerian, Caleb and Lauren Chadderton on a tour.  It was so sweet catching up with everyone and Lauren said to me that she could only remember meeting me like twice in her life.  It was an awesome tour and it made me so grateful for the things I learnt from the parental's - like gaining a testimony for ourselves when we were little.  I loved seeing Uncle & Aunty and the cousins again.  Thanks for coming!  

Well, the Lord has been helping us with our assignments especially with that missing microphone.  We went to the North Visitor's Centre where the Christus Statue is located to try and find the microphone and the AV guy that is in charge of all the Visitor Center equipment was taking photos of his children.  Yay!  I was like, "Hey thats the guy we need to talk to!" So crazy!  He told us which microphone we needed but that we could also use a wired microphone as well, so we went and found one of those.  I am so grateful for the Lord's help otherwise nothing would've worked out for us.  Saturday was another hectic day but we are doing good at balancing our missionary work and office work.  

Our investigators are still progressing even if we aren't able to talk to them as often as we'd like to. I called Brian a few times and he is still working on quitting his addictions, he's almost there!

We had a cool experience with a Korean guy this week just after we had opened Temple Square.  We asked him if he needed help and then talked about some of the research he had done about the Church, showed him the model of the Salt Lake City Temple in the South Visitor's Centre, gave him a Book of Mormon and then referred him to have the local missionaries teach him in Korea when he goes home!  So incredible and this all happened in less than 15 minutes.  Miracles!  I love it.  Heavenly Father is great!  On Saturday the Sisters in their last transfer - like me - and those in there first and second transfer had the opportunity to attend the, "Celebration of the Christ Interfaith Concert" as there weren't enough tickets for the whole mission to attend.  It meant that I missed the Tabernacle Choir's Christmas concert but I wasn't too upset. The interfaith concert was amazing! Jenny Oaks Baker, BYU Vocal Point, Kevin - a beat-boxing cellist from Pentatonic - and some Baptist and Catholic Church Choirs performed.  I loved the Baptist Church's choir number! They were from Georgia so I was missing my people in the South.  BYU Vocal Point was definitely one of my favourites. Did you know that Jenny Oaks Baker is Elder Dallin H. Oaks' daughter? She is a very talented lady and Elder Oak's and his wife were at the concert.  So cool!

We still have a few trainings left to do this week but it won't be as demanding as the previous week.  We have to work until 10:00 p.m. two nights a week during the Christmas season and we can sleep in and be up and ready to study by 8:00 a.m.  We got to sleep in today and I was so grateful for that because it made a huge difference to my day and I feel ready to work late tonight!  My companion's goal is to drag me off the Square at night and take me home as I just love being on the Square talking to the thousands of people that visit.  It just makes me so happy to be here and that I still have a few more weeks left as a missionary.  We are having a mission tour by Elder Clark next week so that should be heaps of fun.

Thanks for all your prayers and love.  I fasted for strength to make it through this transfer and the Lord is answering my prayers!

Love you all, Sister Chadderton xoxo

26 November 2013

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Wow!  Transfers!  Transfer week is always rough and I've been a little emotional these past few days knowing that my companion and many of my friends are finishing their missions this week.  I will miss them so, so,  much.  When my friends were sharing some of the things that they have learnt while serving their missions I was just in awe of how far they've come in the past 18 months.  Each of them has sacrificed so much and I can't believe it's all coming to an end for them.  My class will officially be the oldest class in the mission as of Wednesday and we have some pretty HUGE shoes to fill.

 A story of endurance, patience and long suffering that I have learnt since being here on Temple is about one of our sweetest sister missionaries currently serving who is from the Philippines.  Her father was tragically shot at  the beginning of her mission and this is something that she doesn't talk about  a lot as it is a very sensitive topic but her example of humility is something that stands out to me.  She is totally reliant upon the Lord for strength and knows that He will take care of her and her family.  She told me that she chose to stay on her mission after receiving the news despite the challenges that she has had to endure.  She is such an inspiration to me. There aren't too many sisters in our mission that are aware of her story and her example of striving to follow Jesus Christ is incredible and I love her so much!

Well, I have a new companion and her name is Sister Back (pronounced like Bach the music genius) and she is from Finland/Bolivia so she speaks several languages.  Surprisingly enough, she was also companions with my trainer (mama) Sister Calderwood so thats exciting.  I love her already and am grateful we can be companions for my last transfer.  As Temple Square Co-ordinator's we have the opportunity to help the AP's write up the schedules for the whole mission and it can be quite a tedious job because we only have one computer to set everything up on so being patient and working together in unity with each other can have it's challenges.  Thank goodness for the strength we receive from the Lord or we could go a little nutty and luckily I have a companion who is a little nutty too because we found this toy unicorn and pretended to gallop down the hallway as a, "sanity break" and we were about to do it again when 30 odd missionaries entered the Square from the MTC for visitor's center training.  They had come down to the offices where we were working so we stopped real fast - haha - hid our toy unicorn until they went into the big theater room and then galloped off one more time before going back to work.  Don't worry we didn't spend too much time goofing off but those sanity breaks sure are worth it when you've been stuck in a room with one computer for almost five hours.  Everything worked out nicely.

The AP's had my companion and I assist them in training the mission on what takes place around Christmas time on the Square.  The presentation was fun because we dressed up in Christmas colors, wore reindeer antlers on our head and played Christmas music as the sisters entered the room.  We talked about the many thousands of visitors that will flood the Square over the Christmas season, presented them with the new schedules along with the logistics of Temple Square and staying on the Square until 10:00 p.m. at least twice a week.  We even role played how to usher people effectively up to the Christus Statue in the North Visitor's Centre because sometimes the guests can turn into angry mobs if they are kept waiting too long. It was a successful training and the AP's had written a Temple Square version of the Christmas carol, "Sleigh bells ring…" so we sang it to everyone to end the training.  It was hilarious and I think its what the sisters needed to help them get excited for the hectic Christmas schedule that starts this week  Friday.  But before that, we will celebrate Thanksgiving on Thursday and our celebrations this year will take us back to Noah's Ark where we celebrated last year.  I know it will be heaps of fun because after the fun comes all the hard work!

Oh,  I was able to call Brian yesterday in South Carolina and he is still going good.  He still wants to be baptized so hopefully this week is the week!  I'm hoping I can call more of my people this week to find out how they are all doing.  I hope you all have a great week.  I can't believe how quickly this time has gone.  Oh and Sister Pipe is going outbound to the Yuteca New York Mission for two transfers so this will be the last time I see her as she leaves tomorrow morning.  So, so, sad...but such is life.  I know I will see her again!

Take care,

Love you heaps,

Sister Chadderton

P.s.   This week Sister's Jardine and Ellen who used to serve here took my companion and I out to dinner at CPK's - a delicious pizza place - and a member had paid for all of us! So sweet!  I love Ellen!  And today Sister Kyle - another RM from Temple Square - took us out to lunch and it was awesome.  I hope if I'm ever back here I can do the same for a missionary too!  I love Temple Square Sisters - especially those two!

19 November 2013

Hi Family,

Thank you for all of your emails as I love hearing from everyone and learning how you are doing.  I've had a very busy week and I'm so glad that the Fireside is over and done with because we now have more time to do our missionary work rather then attend music practices.  Last Monday for P-Day we went to a hairdressing school and were given a free scalp massage and it was amazing.  On Tuesday we performed our concert and it was great.   A couple of highlights for me after the performance was seeing Norelle Parker and the Bunting family.  I met Sister Bunting's two returned missionary daughters and they are as awesome as their mum.  Norelle said the concert was, "mint az."  I took that as a pretty good compliment.  Wednesday we were a bit exhausted from the night before but we made it through the day.  Then on Thursday I went in for minor surgery on my toe and it was a lot less dramatic then my last surgery.  It was the actual doctor who numbed my toe this time and it was done in less than 5 minutes.  Such a relief!  I couldn't wear my tights the next day and that turned out to be a big mistake because it was FREEZING!  We attended the, "Savior of the World" performance on Friday night and then headed home for dinner.  I was so cold that I quickly bandaged up my toe, put on my tights and wore them with a shoe on one foot and a jandal on the other just so that my legs were warm. 

I loved the production as it was about the birth and resurrection of the Savior and it was so beautiful.  If you ever get the chance to watch it I highly recommend it.  It's a tear jerker for sure!  The next day my companion and I woke up early to go to the Bountiful Temple.  President gave me permission to go to the temple so Sister Vach and I went.  It started snowing on our way which was a little scary but we made it there in time.  It was so beautiful and I was so happy to go back to the temple after not going for over four months.  I think that's the longest time I haven't attended since I was endowed.  I love the peace that I feel whenever I'm in the Temple.   The session was awesome and I loved the new endowment session.  Afterwards, we took some snow pictures then headed back to Temple Square, stopping in at Cafe Rio for brunch on our way.  The rest of our Saturday was awesome and I believe it was because we started our day by going to the Temple.

Well,  I gave my departing talk in Sacrament meeting yesterday because it is customary to assign Sisters who will soon be leaving to speak every week and since my class is so large they've already started assigning us.  My topic was, "How fasting, combined with sincere prayer, brings greater spiritual strength."  I think my talk went well and I had the opportunity to share some of my own personal experiences.  I always feel spiritually strengthened after I've fasted.  I also shared the testimony I have gained on my mission about paying an honest fast offering.  I had never paid a fast offering before my mission but I knew it was something that was required of me to be fully obedient in keeping the law of the fast so as a missionary I decided to exercise my faith and do it.  I have a testimony that each time I have paid my fast offering - even though I was worried I wouldn't have enough money for food - but when I've paid it, if I was out shopping or buying my lunch either at City Creek or Costco or Nauvoo Cafe, some kind person would step in and pay for my items or give me a $10 or $15 gift voucher. This has happened so many times to me as a missionary and I know the Lord has blessed me because I had the faith to pay my fast offerings.  Miracles!

Well, after Sacrament we went out onto the Square and I had the opportunity to announce in English after Music and the Spoken word was over.  I remember doing this two  General Conferences ago when I first arrived.  It was super cool and Sister Vaivai was able to announce in Samoan.  Haha!  Like twins, we've done so many things together since the beginning of our missions.  Both of our companions are going home next week and they have a lot of departing missionary dinners and meetings scheduled between now and their departure day so Sister Vaivai and I have planned to go on exchanges so that we can continue on doing the work.  I'm really going to miss my companion Sister Vach.  In our staff meeting yesterday the AP's gave us an assignment for next transfer and I was like, "Yes we can do that" then I looked at my companion and she said, "Yes you can do that!"  Then it dawned on me that she won't be here!   I'm going to have to step up and take over the reigns again real soon.  I am praying for a companion that can help me to finish strong.  I can't believe next week will be my last transfer because it just seems like yesterday that I left the MTC.  I do know that the Lord has a plan for me after my mission.

Thank you again for all your prayers and support!  It has meant so much to me.  I wouldn't have had these wonderful experiences and opportunities to serve and help others if it wasn't for all the love and support from home.

I love you all.

Sister Chadderton xoxo

12 November 2013

Hey family!

Awesome week this week! 

Guess who I got to meet this week? Brother Richard Lewis who was the missionary responsible for baptizing Nanny and Grandad Chadderton 50 years ago last month.  It was so neat to meet him and some of his family members.  I met his son almost a year ago during the crazy Christmas season and it was cool to meet his dad and other family members this time round. It was seriously a tender mercy. Dad, I didn't realize that you were named after him and when I told him Ricky was also named Richard he almost cried.  He said he knows he was called to serve his mission in NZ to baptize Nanny and Grandad and he loved hearing all about our family.  They are such a sweet family.

So many tender mercies this week.  Another tender mercy was learning that my ex-companion Sister Walker - from South Carolina Columbia Mission - her mum was on the Square looking for me.  When I learnt this I was on an  assignment but I soon found Sister Olden and she and I went to see if we could find the mum.  Well, I don't know if I'd mentioned that Sister Walker's younger daughter is a famous 11year old popstar and she was rehearsing at the Conference Center to sing at a huge up and coming concert.  We got word that she was at the Conference Centre but we also knew that only the performers were allowed access due to rehearsal time.  I talked to the events people at the door and the lady asked her husband to take us to find the mum.  He took us backstage which then lead us to the stage and there are all the performers on stage and I'm freaking out a little wondering if this is okay to be here.  Then the husband said, pointing to people sitting down, "Go and see if you can find her!"  I can't remember what she looked like but Sister Olden had met her so when we finally saw her she gave me this massive hug.  It was soooooo cool!  We had a picture with Lexi the daughter so we could send it to Sister Walker and it was so neat to talk to her mum. She just emanates love.  When we had to leave I gave her another hug and turned to leave and she yelled out my name and said, "Sister Chadderton, I love you!" It was the sweetest thing ever. I love her daughter and I can see why shes such an awesome person. Most surreal experience but so awesome.

I also heard that Sister Bunting Jnr. had come to, "Music and the Spoken Word" and was searching for me after it.  Sadly, I was in a staff meeting.  Hopefully, she will come to the fireside tomorrow night.  That'll be awesome!

Oh and I called Brian this week as it is something I have been wanting to do.  While he hasn't been baptized as yet, he is still progressing and the sweetest thing happened to him this week.  So the members that emailed you this week mum, they are one of the best missionary families ever!  They had Brian over for a lesson at their home and they bought him a suit and Brian said to me, "Now I look like a million dollars!" It was so cute.  I think he will wear it every day if he could.  He's still working towards baptism so keep praying for him. 

My companion and I are doing great and the stress levels are going down even though we still have stress. We have been balancing our assignments, study, and early morning meetings better and we eat healthy meals which helps.  We have our fireside tomorrow night and we have been practicing hard out for it. I have invited alot of people and hope they come! It'll be awesome. Last one ever!

Anyway family and friends, I love you all and I am trying my best not to think about January 8th!  Keep encouraging me in your emails and prayers and pray for the people in the Phillipines, so tragic!

Thanks for all your love and sacrifices.

Sister Chadderton xoxo 

5 November 2013

Hi everyone,  I hope you've all had an awesome week. So much has happened this week for me and I always feel like I never have enough time to write and share everything with you. 

Anyway, one of the highlights or miracles for me this week was calling one of our convert families in England to see how they are.  You may remember that they were baptized at the beginning of the year in January.  Well, the 18-year old daughter answered the phone and she was so excited to hear from us and couldn't wait to tell me that she has just completed her medical papers for her mission and is looking to leave sometime in the early part of 2014!!!!  That was the best news ever!  Then we learnt that the 16-year old son was recently ordained to the office of a priest and the best news of all was learning that the Mum is preparing to go to the Temple in January 2014.  I was soooooo excited for this wonderful family!  I love being a missionary and having these experiences.  I totally wish I had the funds to fly to England after my mission to go through the Temple with the Mum.  But,  I will settle to go to the NZ Temple in honor of them - so awesome!  I know that I have been blessed to be an instrument in helping others to come unto Christ.

Well, our Halloween party started at 5:00 p.m. and we had a hilarious skit by our AP's about the importance of dressing and grooming modestly.  They did a skit where one of them sat on the lap of the other.  The person sitting on the lap had her arms tied behind her back while the other person sitting on the chair used her arms to apply make-up, hair clips, scarves and perfume on the other.  It was super funny.  Helped us to recognize the importance of taking a bit of pride in our appearance and groom.  After the skit we all enjoyed a baked potato bar for dinner and watched the movie, "Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe!"  Yep!  No Harry Potter this year!   It was an awesome movie and we had a great night!

So, my big toe is healing slowly and I gently slipped my foot into a pair of tights today and then eased my foot into my boots because yesterday was our first day of, "Snow" for the Winter. Crazy!  I haven't missed the snow at all and while I'm glad I won't be spending the entire Winter season here I will miss Temple Square when the time comes to leave. 

Last Monday my companion and I were invited to President & Sister Seppi's home because I wanted to see his house before I leave.  I learnt that while I was on my outbound, the sister missionaries were invited to President's home for a huge BBQ.  He and his wife are the sweetest couple.  President is a genius and he helped to construct the roof of the Conference center, City Creek Mall and is currently working on the Provo Tabernacle/Temple.  Anyway, we went to dinner first at 5:00 p.m. at a nice Mexican Restaurant and then we went to his house and had a fun tour.  We visited one of the ex-secretary's that used to work for President Gillette - Sister Horne - and she too is so sweet and gave us pumpkin chocolate chip cookies which are pretty much my favorite.  My companion and I had an awesome P-Day.

Well family, I received my travel itinerary this week and I'm sorry but I get home really,  really,  early on the morning of January 10 2014 at 5:45 a.m.  I almost cried this week when I learnt that Sister Vaivai had received her travel plans too but we were booked on different flights.   Upon learning this I immediately asked travel if it was at all possible for them to change the bookings to allow us to be on the same flight home.  I love travel because they must have felt sorry for me and they made the changes. Thank goodness!  I can't fly home without my twin! Haha!  At least thats what we dressed up as for Halloween - Twins!

Also, I am trying to schedule a tour with Brother Richard Lewis who was the missionary that baptized Nanny and Grandad Chadderton 50 years ago last month.  He emailed me a few weeks ago and I called him this week so hopefully I can see him and thank him before I go home.  So cool!

Have a wonderful week family and thanks for your prayers.  I love you heaps, thank you for your sacrifices and know that I am doing my best to be obedient and make use of my time wisely.

Sister Chadderton xoxo

Pics: Me and my companion Sister Vach, Twins for Halloween minus the ugly feet, me sitting by the reflection pool, missionary couples, AP's, Halloween celebrations, beautiful Salt Lake City Temple, my ugly big toe.

29 October 2013

Hey Y'all! 

Hope you're having a fantastic week!  Fall on Temple Square is probably one of my favourite times of the year.  The colours are soooooo beautiful and its the perfect temperature too!

So, my week has been busy, but great as usual.  We had to give three trainings this week to help the Sisters with their assignments and they all turned out really well.  President Gillette told us that our responsibility is equal to the role of a Zone Leader but we don't have a zone beneath us, instead we have the whole mission.  It's good fun!  We are doing a Desk Etiquette and Dress and Grooming training tomorrow morning but we've assigned the Zone Leaders specific topics to present.

Mum, you wrote that Elder Oaks visited the South Carolina Mission but guess who was our surprise speaker at 7:30 a.m. this morning?  Yep, Elder & Sister Oaks!  It was a great experience and he and his wife are the funniest and sweetest people you will ever meet.  Did you know Elder Oaks is now 81years old? I had no idea!  Well, his talk was very inspiring and I received more guidance on how to continue to remain strong after my mission - which is something I have been a little worried about.  I've heard the transition of going home can be a little rough but if we continue to do our spiritual preparations each day we will be fine. They talked about how blessed we are to be sent to this mission and I kept nodding and saying to myself, "I know it!  I am so blessed!"

We have another concert/musical fireside that we are preparing for.  Very different from the last one. The Polynesian sisters are doing a special number so hopefully it will sound okay - no poi balls involved this time because its meant to be a more spiritual meeting.  It's in two weeks (Tuesday 12 November) at 7:30 p.m. so if you live in Utah and want to be spiritually uplifted bring a friend who needs to be uplifted too! It will be held In the Assembly Hall again.  My companion is awesome on the piano so I'm excited for everyone to hear her!

This week is fun because its Halloween!  Temple Square closes early that day and then we will have a mission activity.  If you remember last year's party we had a special guest - Harry Potter - so hopefully this year he will come back...fingers crossed.

I just wanted to give a shout out to my awesome zone leaders, Sister Olden from Australia and Sister Anderson from Indianna. We had a zone meeting this week and our standard of excellence is focused on Christlike attributes. They challenged us to pick one to work on for the transfer so I chose patience and my companion chose patience and charity.  Needless to say whenever you want to achieve a Christlike attribute you are given trials to help you accomplish that so we are trying to be more patient and show forth more charity by the end of this transfer.  I'm grateful we have a loving Heavenly Father who wants to help us reach our potential and gives us opportunities to grow.

Hope you all are able to think of something you can work on for the rest of the year and pray for that attribute to help you become the person Heavenly Father wants you to be.

I love you all!

Happy Halloween!!!

Sister Chadderton

22 October 2013

Hi family,

WOW! What a crazy, epic week it has been since I last emailed.  I hope I get to share with you the most important pieces of information from my past week.

Okay, so I want to to share what happened before I left the South Carolina Mission to return to Temple Square.  So, on Monday night we had pizza at Bishop's home and it was so awesome.  Pretty much our whole zone arrived for homemade pizza.  Seriously, Bishop is the bomb! The next day I finished packing and a member drove us to Irmo and I went on exchanges with some Sisters that were waiting to find out who their new companions were. Sister Hopper was one of the sister missionaries waiting and I was so happy to see her as she was my first companion when I arrived in the field.  At 5:00 p.m. we met back at the Irmo chapel where we had dinner with the new trainees - fresh from the MTC and they had a testimony meeting and President Holm had Sister Nilsson and I share our testimonies too.  That was an awesome experience.  We stayed at the mission home that night and were dropped off to the airport early the next morning.

Arriving in Salt Lake City was so awesome as we were welcomed by screaming friends at the bottom of the escalator shouting, "WELCOME HOME!"  It was so awesome and the escalator was moving too slow for my liking because I wanted to run down it and hug everyone.  Sister Vaivai was there and some of my other close friends and it was a sweet, sweet reunion. Then we went outside and there were heaps more Sisters waiting to welcome us as well as pick us all up and again more screaming and hugs!  So fun! My first trainee, Sister Pipe wanted to drive me home.  She is a trainer now and I was so happy for her.

My new companion is Sister Vach from Seattle, Washington and we are the Temple Square Co-ordinators.  This assignment was implemented a few transfers ago and it is a really tricky one to explain.  Basically,  we help make the Square run smoothly and we do a lot of the training on Temple Square.  We are in the office a ton and attend the weekly staff meetings with the Mission Presidency. I have really enjoyed it so far and it is an assignment where we are giving a lot of our time to help the Sisters.  We open and unlock the Square everyday at 9:00 a.m. so we miss out on our personal studies at that time and have to make it up later.  But my companion is seriously the best and we have a lot of fun.  Sister R.Walsh is my District leader and Sister Olden and Anderson are my Zone leaders and I am so happy!   Oh and get this, "Sister Olden and I are taking a VIP tour with a Senator Elect of Australia this week!"  It's going to be awesome.

So, I have no idea who all the new Sisters are because there are over a 100 new sisters and I am struggling with their names but its been less then a week since returning so I'll get there.

I have loved being back on Temple Square and while I am missing South Carolina and all the people I am grateful for technology that allows us to keep in touch.  I called our investigator Brian yesterday and he went to church and I was so happy!  He is striving for baptism next week so please keep praying for him and his brother Jeff.

We are really busy as usual on Temple Square and I love looking for the miracles each day. We took a tour the other day with this sweet, sweet, couple from Kentucky.  One of their business associates had dropped them off for a tour (he's LDS) and it was the coolest tour. The Spirit was so strong and they are looking forward to meeting with missionaries once they get back to Kentucky and we are going to call them next week.  Miracle! 

Family I can't thank you enough for the package.  I got it the day after I arrived and I had a party with my room mates that night - munching away on the choccies. Oh and mum, I have the little bag for Sister Bunting, let me know when she comes to the Square so I can give it to her. The package was awesome and the shoes were very much appreciated!

This is my companions last transfer and next transfer  it will be my last.  I love my mission and I love that the world is hastening the work. Can't wait to be a member missionary when I come home.

Love you all, thanks for your prayers and love.

Sister Chadderton

15 October 2013

Hi family!

Thank you for all your prayers and emails this past week. I have had an awesome week and I will be leaving the South Carolina Columbia Mission on Wednesday morning to fly back to Temple Square. Tomorrow we are driving to Irmo where I will say goodbye to my companion because she will be training and needs to attend a meeting with the new trainees.  I will be with another companionship in the Hopkin area until 5:00 p.m. after which I will stay the night at the Mission home with Sister Nilsson.  We will wake up early the next morning to catch our flight at 4:00 a.m. to Salt Lake City.  It will be a very short night!

As mentioned earlier, this past week has been good and we have been finding more and more people to teach. We had dinner with a lovely family the other day and I learnt that the wife is not a member.  She said she would be interested in learning more about the gospel and she even attended church on Sunday with her two children.  It was a huge miracle!  Unfortunately, her husband's work stops him from attending Church on Sunday's but I loved how she came without him.  She's wonderful.  We sang in two different Wards this past Sunday.  One Ward met at 9:00 a.m. and wanted us to do a musical item because they heard us practising for Zone Conference a while ago so we sang for them and then we sang again in our own Ward.  It was awesome, especially when the speaker in our Ward spoke about the Prophet Joseph Smith's First vision and we just happened to sing the song, "Joseph Smith's  First Vision" to the tune of, "Homeward Bound."  Double witness of the truthfulness of the Prophet Joseph Smith and his First vision!!!  It was so neat.

Well, today is going to be a busy day and I said most of my goodbyes yesterday and I know I will miss my Ward SOOOOO much.  I love the people here and I'm so grateful that I got to meet so many wonderful people.  I still have lots of laundry to do along with packing, printing off photo's and going to Bishop's house for pizza.  I'm so happy that my last night is at Bishop's because he's so awesome!  I hope you get to meet him because he's coming over to New Zealand in February for a holiday with his family.  You will love them!

I can't believe that the three months of my outbound experience has come to an end and I'm very much aware of the time I have left before my mission finishes.  I am so blessed with all of the experiences I've had.  I love you family  and please pray for me that I won't freeze when I get back to Salt Lake City on Wednesday!

Sister Chadderton xoxo

8 October 2013

Hey family!!!

Oh my goodness, General Conference was AMAZING!!!!  It was so nice to view it all without having sore feet.  I am so grateful for the blessings that the Lord gives us but I want to tell you about my past week which was awesome.

Monday night we had a great lesson with the Taber family who live on a golf course.  They are vegans and we were served some of the most delicious food.  Anyway, they had invited their neighbours over to hear a gospel message.  I believe the lesson went well, mainly because I remember coughing and spluttering a lot through it due to my flu.  I'm grateful for the spirit.  We gave them a Book of Mormon and then carried on to our next lesson with the two brothers - Brian and Jeff - our Hawaiian whanau.  Jeff didn't join us in the lesson when we last  visited but he joined us this time.  He told us of a dream he had and I was in the dream but he doesn't remember what I said but he woke up feeling at peace about the things I had said so he decided then to start joining us on the lessons.  When we would visit before he'd come up with lines like, "This is more for Brian then me!"  I think he's realizing its important for him to learn and do as well.  The lesson was awesome and following the lesson they invited us over for dinner on Saturday.  They had made us Kailua pork and chicken luau with pasta.  I think they knew this kiwi girl was missing her polynesian foods.  I love our investigators!!!  The biggest blessing came when both Brian and Jeff attended the Sunday sessions of General Conference at the Chapel the next day!!!!  They even asked for a priesthood blessing from the Elders.  It was so awesome.  I love the gospel!  Please keep them in your prayers as they are struggling with personal issues and are to be baptized next week.

Well, on Wednesday we woke up at 5:00 a.m. and car pooled with the Sisters in West Ashley area to Irmo.  It is a two hour drive and we arrived a little early so we stopped by the waffle house for breakfast.  At 9:00 a.m. we had Mission Leadership Council with all the missionary leaders and it was so good.  We had a break for lunch and later came together with all the trainers and district leaders in the mission. There was about 180 of us at this meeting and it was a little overwhelming but the spirit was awesome.  My companion and I did our training segment which was all about working effectively with members and the importance of 1) Earning the trust of members,  2) Meeting with the members before the lesson to fill them in on the lesson plan and 3) Testifying of what the members share.  We did a role play and it was super fun.  You really had to be their to capture the spirit of it all.  Because the training was for two days, we got to stay the night in the mission home with 21 other sisters.  It was so much fun and I'm definitely excited about seeing my sisters on Temple Square (T2) next week.  The next morning, we got up and did some exercising where we went running around the Irmo Dam and it was so beautiful.  I forgot my runners so I just ran in bare feet!  Go me!  The leadership training was awesome and I really love the South Carolina Columbia Mission and I know I will miss it terribly when I leave.  The members and investigators are so awesome. I don't think I'll get to see any of my investigators baptized in person but I'm excited to call them and strengthen them when I get back to the Square.

General Conference - President Monson in the Sunday morning session gave an awesome talk and in his opening remarks he basically said that he would go home after Conference and write in his journal that this was one of the most inspiring conferences that he has ever attended!  Cool aye!   The Waddle family are amazing and had us over on Saturday to watch the first session of Conference with them.  They'd put on a huge spread of delicious food for everyone.  We watched the second session at the Ward families home and that was fun too. I really felt the Lord's love for us this weekend because everyone was talking about missionary work and how they should do more of it with the members and be evenly yolked.  I have decided to change my way of thinking so that instead of having a fear of returning home because I will miss my mission,  I've decided to turn that fear into excitement and get excited for my next mission - being a member missionary and helping all of my loved ones who do not have the gospel to learn about it through the missionaries.  So, if any of my friends are reading this who are not members of the Church, visit mormon.org and chat with a missionary on their because they can help answer any of your questions and help put you in touch with the missionaries in your own country. This message will not only bless your life but the lives of your family members too.

Thank you family and friends for all of your prayers.  I really do feel them and I know it's your prayers that carry us missionaries through the hard times.  I loved all the talks at General Conference.  I felt that the speakers were very direct and BOLD in their messages and I loved it.  The main theme I got from conference was how daily decisions determine destiny and how God's laws and doctrines don't change.  Another huge thing was making sure we are not putting anything before God.  I loved it!

Well, I better leave time to email some other people but thank you family for all you do and for all the people who are sacrificing for me to be here.

Love you all,

Sister Chadderton

Leadership training, Waddle family, Kailua pork and chicken dish.

1 October 2013

Aloha family,

We've had some awesome miracles this week which included going on exchanges with the travelling Sister missionaries - Sister Gale and Sister Garlick!  Joseph - I had your families photo hanging on the wall in my room and Sister Gale looked at it and said, "I know him, he's from Hawaii and he graduated from Kahuku High School!"  What a small world aye? Anyway, during exchanges we were able to find more people to share the gospel with.  There have been a few moments where I've wondered why I was sent to the South Carolina Colombia Mission to serve out my outbound experience and I believe I have had a few witnesses as to the reasons why.  One of these witnesses happened this week while we were visiting some less actives.  When we left the less actives home we decided to do some tracting in the neighborhood.  It just so happened that we knocked on this one door and a guy comes out and we introduce ourselves and ask him a few ice-breaker questions.  After the formalities he said,  "I'm actually moving overseas soon for College."  I then asked him, "Where are you moving to?"  He then replied, "I'm moving to New Zealand!"  You cannot imagine my surprise when he said that.  I told him that I was from New Zealand!  He was excited and told us that he was accepted to AUT and will be studying some course with a very complicated name that I can't remember.  His course starts in January 2014.  Crazy!  In all my excitement to hear that this guy was moving to our beautiful country I failed to seize the moment to ask if we could leave a message with him but we will try and visit him again during the week.  

We have been finding so many people to teach through the help of our less active and part member families in the Ward.  One of our investigators attended church yesterday and it was such a tender mercy.  The day before church, we called him to remind him of attending and he said that he had gone out to buy a white shirt because the other night when we had a lesson with him one of the members asked him if he had one.  He is from Hawaii and was just planning on wearing an Aloha shirt to church but when we had called him he told us that he wanted to show respect for Heavenly Father while at church so that's why he went out and bought one.  It was so cool having him come and sit with us at church.  Our Summerville 2nd Ward members are amazing because they really understand the importance of helping investigators and almost every testimony that was shared yesterday was directed at the investigators that were in attendance.  Those who shared their testimonies were all converts to the church and their stories really helped the investigators continue on their journey towards baptism.  The Spirit was so strong and I am so grateful for everyone who shared.

So, I caught the flu from Sister Gale while on exchanges and have been sniveling, coughing and sneezing a lot. My companion has been very patient with me and I swear the whole time I was on Temple Square I think I only ever got sick once.  However,  I come to South Carolina and I feel I am constantly battling something.  Oh well trials make us stronger!  This next week we have lots of training to do in Irmo.  We are going to a Missionary Leadership Council on Tuesday morning and then we have Leadership Training Coordination for the rest of Tuesday and the whole of Wednesday.  My companion and I are doing a whole training on teaching with members so that'll be fun.  I love how President Holm's gives my companion and I opportunities to give training to our fellow missionaries.   All the Zone leaders, District leaders, Trainers and Sister Training leaders of the mission will be at the leadership meeting so their will be a lot of people in attendance.  The mission home is approximately two hours from where we live in Charleston so we will be staying at the mission home for the two days of training.  I'm so excited!!!  I'm trying to get myself well enough so that I don't spread this flu bug with others.

Well, miracles happen everyday and while I feel I never have enough time to email you about all of them, I am glad you are enjoying my letters home where I feel I can write and share more about these miracle stories.

I love you all and thanks for your prayers.  It's kind of sad to think that I won't be on the Square during General Conference this weekend with my Sister's but I'm very excited for General Conference nonetheless.  We are watching the Saturday session at one of our members homes - the Waddle family - and on Sunday we will go to the Chapel with our investigator's to watch it.  The Relief Society broadcast was AMAZING!  It was all about making and keeping covenants and I know that's what this life is all about.

We have lots of lessons lined up for tonight with our investigators.  Yippee!

I love the Lord - One faith, One Lord, One baptism!

Sister Chadderton

P.s.  Awesome to hear about all the new mission calls.   I am so stoked for everyone.

24 September 2013

Hey Family!

Thank you for all the birthday wishes. I have had a great week in the life of a missionary -  busy but really great!

So, as you know, yesterday was my birthday and it was also our Primary Sacrament Presentation at church which is probably my most favourite Sunday of the year.  The children were so cute and there were so many people in attendance.  It was awesome!  The Relief Society President knew it was my birthday and she did something really sweet in that she had her children write little, "Happy Birthday notes" and gave me a big packet of Starbursts - so cute!  We were invited to the Young Women's President's home for dinner and she had cooked a massive turkey!  This thing was huge and very delicious.  That same day we tracted a few less active people that we found on our Ward directory and that was awesome too.  

A few weeks back when I was on exchanges with Sister Howton we had helped a family move boxes from the house into the removal truck.  It was a random act of service  because we just happened to see a removal truck outside this home and asked if they needed help.   The mother wasn't moving but her son was and it was his stuff going into the truck.  I felt inspired to go back and visit the mother because she was so lovely.  So, last night we went and visited her and she had her neighbor visiting too and we had a great conversation with both ladies.  They have such a strong testimony of our Saviour Jesus Christ - remember, this is the South and most people do.  However, I felt inspired to share one of my favorite Mormon Messages entitled, "Mountains to Climb!"  We played it for them and afterwards the mother was quite blown away and said, "I didn't know you believed all of that!"  All she knew about our faith was that somehow there was an affliation with polygamy.  It was good to clear up her understanding and she and her neighbor accepted  a copy of the Book of Mormon.  That was such an awesome experience and we will go back again soon.   Anyway, before we left we had a piece of toast with a glass of water.  So kind!

We had another  great lesson with a couple of our investigators who are preparing to be baptized and it was really cool to go back and see a change in their countenance.  One of the two brothers is progressing rapidly due to his decision to decrease his alcohol consumption.  Miracle!  Hopefully, they will continue to stay committed so that they can be baptized.

I really love how the Spirit works and it's something I think I'm going to miss the most as a missionary.  I love how the spirit has the ability to guide us and lead us to those people who are prepared to hear the gospel.  I have felt those huge impressions to turn towards a specific street or to contact a specific persons name etc.  Missionary work is hard work but there's a quote I like that goes,  "There is no growth in comfort, and no comfort in growth!"  This is so true!   This morning I studied the topic of, "Trials" and I learnt something so cool.  Did you know that if you are experiencing a trial that it's a good thing?  The scriptures teach us that, "Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth!"  So, if any of you are experiencing trials or feeling chastened, that means you are really loved by God and he wants bigger and better things for you.  Cool aye!

I love you all and I am so grateful for the many times I get to reflect on my trials and weaknesses because I know I can take them to the Lord and He will help me.  I feel it everyday!  He doesn't take them away but he makes them easier just like the people of Alma.

Zone Conference was amazing and uplifting.  The church has produced a new booklet about adjusting to mission life and its filled with good information that I have enjoyed reading. It doesn't matter if you are a new missionary to the field or a seasoned missionary, this booklet helps us to recognize that  we still have room for improvement.

Well, family, I hope you enjoy going to, "Wicked!"  You will love it like I did when I saw it in Melbourne a few years back.  To anyone planning to serve a mission, just know that missions aren't meant to be easy, but you will be so grateful to the Lord for helping you to get out there.  I know I am grateful for the decision to serve now and not wait until later.  I have really come to know who my Saviour is and I know that He knows me better than I know myself.  I know that with God all things are possible even though in my minds eye so much seems impossible.  This is the greatest work that anyone can be doing, and all the glory is to our Heavenly Father and we should try every day to help our brothers and sisters come to know of the blessings of eternal life.

Have a great week family and thank you for all your prayers and support.

Have a blessed day - Sister Chadderton xoxo 

17 September 2013

Hey family,

What a great week I have had!  Sure we've had a few trials and challenges but in the grand scheme of things they are pretty insignificant.  Thank you for your emails because I love hearing from everyone even if I don't always get a chance to reply. Well, today it's a month until I go back to Temple Square and I can't believe how quickly the time is passing.

Last Monday for P-Day we went to Charleston and it was incredible!  Charleston is such a beautiful place and it was so nice to be in the city.  One of our members - who deserves a gold medal - picked all six of us missionary sisters up and drove us to the city.  Another awesome experience is that we moved into our new apartment last Wednesday which was so cool because we don't have a line up for the toilet in the morning anymore!  Haha.

On Thursday we had exchanges with the Sisters in the West Ashley area and we were uncertain as to how to get there because our map didn't have their area on it.  We don't have a GPS but the lady that works at the complex where we live gave us some general directions.  Her directions coupled with the spirit pretty much led us to the area.  It is way cool when we follow the spirit because we are so blessed and it happens a lot to Sister Walker and I.  Well,  I left my companion Sister Walker in West Ashley and returned to Summerville with Sister Howton and we went to work looking for less actives.  We found this one family and set up a time to return to visit them and then decided to knock on a few more doors around the area.  The next door we knocked on we met this tiny Filipino lady who invited us into her home.  She was ready to go somewhere but allowed us to share a message with her.  I wanted to share a scripture from the Book of Mormon and asked her if she had ever heard of, "The Book of Mormon"  before and she said, "Yes, I think I was baptized in your church!"  This was a huge surprise to us so I asked her again and she said, "Yes, my ex-husband was a Mormon and his brother baptized me about eight years ago."   What a blessing to meet this sister!  We have set up a time to return and teach her and strengthen her family.  She is engaged and has a 10 year old son.  It was such a cool experience to find her and we were grateful that we were in the right place at the right time. The Lord knows his sheep!  Great exchange.  Another story, "I had set a goal that while on exchanges we would teach the First Vision and invite someone to be baptized.  Well, the night before, I felt strongly that we should tract on this one particular street and we were running out of time when a guy opens his door and we start talking to him.  He's in his 20's and knows nothing about the church and we end up sharing the First Vision with him and after our message he asked, "Where can I get one of those books from?"  It was so cool that he asked about the Book of Mormon and we had one to give to him as well as inviting him to be baptized.  We are going back this Friday to teach another message as it is his only day off work."  Again, the Lord led us to that area and it just so happened that we were standing in front of his house and he came out and introduced himself.  Blessings!!!!  Well, this area definitely has been prepared for us and we have had plenty of challenges and awkward moments but the work is here for us to do.  The other night a guy came out from his house with something tucked away in his jacket because we were tracting until 9:00 p.m. and he was worried that we might be dangerous and we could see he was hiding something and my companion said, "What are you hiding in your jacket?"  He said, "You just never know who you will meet" and she said, "I hope we don't look dangerous!" It was super awkward.  I'll have to write you more about that story later.  But we are safe and loving the work and just trying to work super hard!

This week we have Zone Conference and have been asked to do some training based on 2 Nephi 31:20.  Maybe you can all study that scripture this week and let me know what you think.  We pulled it apart and dissected every word and it was way cool.  I'm excited for Zone Conference and we are doing another musical item too.  

The members in our Ward are awesome and we always receive a warm welcome from them. The people are so down to earth and they remind me so much of home.  I met the Buntings yesterday so please let Elizabeth know that it was such a cool experience for me.  We actually solicited some help from them to pick up our investigators for the Book of Mormon class on Wednesday night.   Another awesome experience to share, "Last night, we met a less active family that had moved here from Hawaii about six months ago. They were having a BBQ  when we arrived and were really excited to see another polynesian face.  Anyway, we met the daughter's husband who is not a member of the church and his brother was their too and he isn't a member either.  After visiting for a while we set up an appointment to return (which was last night).  We had an awesome lesson and the brothers are aged around the 40's and  we taught them the first lesson and then had them kneel with us and we prayed.  They have both committed to be baptized on October 12th.  The one brother - J - whose wife is a member said it was time for him to be baptized.   We learnt that he's had the discussions several times and now feels it's the right time to be baptized."  

I love this gospel and have seen the Lord's hand in the work this past week.  While I don't see myself as a perfect missionary  I am striving to do my best and I know that the Lord is helping me to be a better person and that this is His plan for each of us.  I love you all and thanks for your prayers!  I am so excited for General Conference and its a little surreal that it's my birthday on Sunday and I will turn 23!  I have to chuckle because my companion isn't even 20 yet! 

Be safe, reach out to those around you, go find His lost sheep and I promise you that your life will improve and you will see God's hand in your lives. 

Love Sister Chadderton xoxo 

Pics - Six missionary sisters in our apartment.  Fish and chips yum!  My companion Sister Walker and I next to the pineapple waterfall.  Me with the awesome member and her daughter Molly who is awaiting her mission call.