Storm Clouds Bring Mud... (and Paige sends a wish list)

I don't know if I told you, but I started a 40 day fast. Not like a crazy not eating/drinking fast, but I picked a few things that distract me that I am giving up. One of the things is not getting seconds at dinner.  I need to be doing more to stay in shape. I have had to use my debit card for a few things, just a heads up. I'm out of money until the 31st, which isn't bad except that today is the day we can go grocery shopping..

A list of things I would love if you sent me:

Veggie Tales soundtrack (PLEASE)

Mace (on its way)

Camelbak (got here! THANKS!! :D)

English church cd's, not MoTab. but like Pianoguys is okay. EFY cd's. things like that. Sister Eyre plays all Spanish music (Mom's note:  which would probably be okay if Paige understood Spanish!)

a Spanish/English dictionary..

the Prescription stuff from the dermatologist for dry skin.  I'm getting patches again.

Maxi skirts! THE BLACK AND WHITE DIAGONAL STRIPEY ONE PLEEEASE.  We can wear them!!

INSANITY WORKOUT KIT IF YOU CAN FIND MONEY FOR IT PLEASE.

I lost my patriarchal blessing. so if you could send me a baby copy of it laminated again that would be ideal :)

This week I got to go on an exchange with my favorite, Sister Bosshardt. It was amazing. We woke up, went and did service, came home and showered, and then got a text from a lady that I had seen the last time I was in that area, telling us she needed us. So we rushed over and consoled her. She was actually quite suicidal and I was really grateful she knew that as servants of the Lord, we would be there for her.  I called the DL (District Leader, a local missionary in charge of an area) and asked him to come give her a blessing. He told us that he couldn't unless we found another sister to come and be with us. So we went down the street to another family I met. The wife dropped everything she was doing to help out. I love these people. They're all so willing to do what is right and it just makes me happy.

I got three letters! *ahem*. Abby sent me two, Adrien Lewis, and Mitch Cross. Because they all love me. :) *ahem* I really like letters. *ahem*.

We have two baptisms this week! I'm so excited. Sister Eyre and I are singing at them.

I love you, and I miss you. You'll get a better email next week.

Sister Chatterton

Tight Like Unto a Dish...

Hi MOOOOM.

 

This week has been pretty good. Slow, but we hit standards for the second week in a row, which I feel very accomplished about. The spirit is awesome. I finished the whole Book of Mormon and started working on an art project. It's super cool. Also I bought a guitar... Probably have to ship it home at the end of the mission.. but it was necessary.

 

So I was reading in Ether about the brother of Jared and something really cool hit me.  He is instructed to build barges. He does so in the manner that God asked him to. Exactly as God asked him to. There were some concerns: how will I get air? how will we have light? what about the waves? God basically says, you will be tossed in the ocean. you will be drowned by waves. but I will make sure you come back to the surface and can make it to the promised land. I am in control of the waves and the wind. Just worry about how you will get light. So the Brother of Jared is like aiight. I got this. And comes up with a way to receive light. As promised, God does whatever he can to help. So he touches the stones. They get in the barges, and they are tossed. They are swallowed up in the depths of the ocean. Winds carry them. I imagine that would be a terrifying experience. But if they had not built the barges exactly as they were told to, they would have died. If they had relied on their own knowledge, they would have flooded the barges. If they had ever not trusted that God would bring them back to the surface, and unstopped the plugs they had created, they would have drowned. God has control of all things, He just asks us to find our light to guide us through the hard times. We are to build our testimonies to be so strong that they can withstand the troubles and temptations. Work on building your barge, exactly as God instructs us to.

 

Tell McKenna she owes me a letter.

 

and please send me letters. I'm lonely.

Please Write -- I Need Letters!

p.s. send me letters :( 

Sister Eyre gets them all the time and i feel dejected every time i look in the mailbox. Tell everyone on Facebook to write me, too. :(

Here's her address:
     Sister Paige Chatterton
    939 W. Chapala Dr
    Tucson, AZ 85704-4516
    United States

Turtles and ostriches and peacocks. Oh my!

This week has been so amazing. Seriously. Sister Eyre and I have seen so many miracles. I'd like to share a couple of good and bad experiences I've had.

I'll start off with the bad. Well. Not necessarily bad. Just really really awkward and embarrassing and I'm so glad I'm not speaking Spanish, because I'm not very good at English.

We were looking for this guy, Lenny and ended up knocking on his neighbors house instead. So, I knock on the door, and this old man answers. He is hiding his whole body behind the door and I could only see his face and he said, "Hi. I'm not wearing any clothes. What can I help you with?" That totally caught me off guard. But sister Eyre remained silent. So I said, "Hi! I'm sister Chatterton. We're missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and we share a message with Jesus Christ about anyone!" Yep. A message WITH Jesus Christ ABOUT anyone. Sister Eyre busted up laughing and I didn't know why and I don't even remember the rest of the conversation, but he just stood there. Naked. Behind the door. For about five minutes asking me questions and I just died. It was so awkward.

Then there's the really good cool stories.

Sister Eyre and I had about forty minutes between an appointment and dinner, so we decided to go tracting. Sister Eyre put me in charge of finding doors to knock. So I turned the opposite way of the way we were planning on going and started walking. She followed. We turned down some random street and knocked a corner (3 houses). The first house didn't answer. The second house slammed the door in my face. The third house belonged to Tanya. She answered the door, and Sister Eyre jumped in and started talking. She asked if Tanya knew any members. She said yes. She asked if she had ever wondered what Mormons believe. She said yes, and invited us in and asked us to teach her. So we taught the first lesson. When I shared the first vision with her she started tearing up. She explained to us that she knew there must be prophets on the earth, and that she has been looking to go to a different church because she wants her daughters to grow up with morals. I was absolutely floored. This woman has obviously been prepared to receive this gospel, and I am so excited for you to be led to people like her.

The mission is such an awesome experience. I've had a lot of experiences and thoughts that have already helped me grow up. I look different. I can't explain it, but I do. And I'm happier than I ever have been. It gets kind of lonely sometimes though. And I started to worry about things. And then I was reading in D&C 84. Read that chapter. It's really good. And it totally calmed my fears.

PHOTOS!

Enjoy this slide show (no music) of Paige from the MTC and her first area in the Tucson AZ mission.

My Crazy Cool Week -- or How to Deal with the Unknown

This week has been crazy cool. We beat the goal for the mission of lessons taught and have six investigators now. I had to do two exchanges this week and I was super nervous because I really don't like change (surprise) and they were both sprung on me. So I had to sleep in someone else's unwashed sheets and I was really anxious about it, but then I got over it and the day was AWESOME.

 We were planning on seeing this lady, but when we pulled up to her house, we didn't feel right about it. So we went down the street to another member's house and asked for some referrals. When we left, we drove past the lady's house again, and a firetruck pulled up. WHAT?  So we got out and see her crying and we went over to see if she was okay or if we could help at all. She explained to us that the man that was living with her was drunk and yelling and broke his hand and she was just really distraught. We all went inside and the drunk man took an ambulance to the hospital. We were talking to her about how God doesn't give us more than we can handle with his help, and I had this super strong feeling to ask about her Patriarchal blessing. So I did. She doesn't have it yet but they apparently talked about it in Church. She took that as a sign that God has a plan for her and that she needs to get her blessing as soon as possible to figure it out. She stopped crying and we all talked and the spirit in that house got so strong. I haven't ever felt that useful in teaching before, nor have I felt like I'm guided by the Spirit, but that proved to me that I can make a difference and that the Spirit has guided me. Since then, I've been a lot better about recognizing the spirit in the lessons.

Another exchange I went on was with a Sister who was in my district in the MTC.  She's more shy than I am so I had to do most of the talking. We were driving down the street and I saw a man doing some yard work. So I stopped the car and we ran over there. Not really running, but you get the point. I asked if we could help. He said nope. I asked if we could share a quick message with him. He said "I'm a Christian." I said "THAT'S GREAT! We are too!" And went over and started talking. I gave him the Book of Mormon and we have a return appointment this week! So I guess opening my mouth really does work sometimes. We also tried tracting ... and it was terrible. I have never had that many doors slammed in my face.   Figuratively or literally. I didn't like it. Luckily our members are pretty good about helping us out and bringing their friends to church.

On the Fourth of July, we got to play with sparklers! A member who owns our trailer brought over fireworks and set them off in our yard. It was a lot of fun.

Love all y'all!

Sister Chatterton

p.s. Sister ********** sent me a little package!

I love that woman.

My Life in a Double-Wide aka The End of my First Week

Mailing Address:

Sister Chatterton

939 W Chapala Dr

Tucson AZ, 85704

Hey Mom!!

My first week has been AWESOME. Seriously, I love it here. When I first arrived, I was a little unsure that I would like it at all, because it's all dead and hot and doesnt look anything like home and so I was severely homesick the first couple of days. We were pink-washing, and the elders we replaced left us with a total of zero investigators, potentials, anything to work with. So we had to restart from the beginning. BUT!!!!!! We have been doing awesome. We got a lot of re-activating to do. A lot of part-member families to work with. Two kids who want to be baptized, (one who has to wait until his dad gets his papers, and one who wants to be baptized in spanish so we have to wait until he comes to church). ALSO! I extended my first baptismal invitation yesterday to a girl named Chrystal. She accepted! She's really neat. It was the coolest thing ever. There are a lot of crazies around here, but the stars are pretty so it's all okay. We get fed dinner every night. I do need a camelback. And a water filter because this water is nasty. 

A lady in the ward came up to me yesterday after I bore my testimony and told me that she is from Dallas and as soon as I stood up there and started talking, she knew I was meant to marry her 18 year old son. 

I love you!

Sister Chatterton