Gone camping

See y'all in a few days.

Day 1 without my mini me

It's so weird not having Chelstiene here with me. I guess I find some comfort in this blog. Also when I start to get sad I get a comforting feeling that all will be OK. I am so proud of the decision she has made. It's not an easy one to make. It's a total commitment to give 18 months to 2 years of your life dedicated to the lord. Not everyone can make that kind of commitment and put yourself last.

I did send her an email today. Is it to early for that? I didn't think so. It was short and sweet. I'll send her a letter later. I wonder when her P day is at the MTC? I know it's Wednesday when she is in Oregon. I was thinking it's Wednesday at the MTC because of all the Missionaries we saw at the temple. But they may stagger temple days out at the MTC because there are so many Missionaries at the MTC preparing to do the lords work.

I have so many questions for her: How is she, Hows the food, Had she meet so interesting people, When does she fly to Oregon, Hows her room, Whats it like there, Is she interacting or just observing. So many questions.

Last 2 days with Chelstiene.

Well yesterday Jeff and I took Chelstiene to her Stake President to have her set apart as a Sister Missionay.

This was her before. Her nerves were high. But after talking to President Stringham she felt much better at at peace with everything Jeff and I were then called into his office along with Chelstienes Bishop and his counselors. The meeting was nice.

As we were leaving the house today she cried as she said goodbye to her pets.We then went to the Provo Temple and walked around for a while before it was time to drop her off at the MTC.

After pictures and walking we went to the MTC to drop her off. It's very well organized. We got a pink sticker on our car because we were dropping off a Sister Missionary. We then proceeded to drive to the next spot. We go out of the car with Chelstiene and took out her luggage. A Host Elder Missionary from Brazil who speak Portuguese that is going to Japan to speak Japanese was helping us and telling us what goes on. As Chelstiene gave her hugs goodbye she started to cry. I did my best not to cry in front of her. Brad wont admit it but he was almost in tears as her picked her up off the ground in a giant bear hug.Then a Sister Host Missionary going to Oakland California to speak Chinese came and took her away. Then we drove off. It still seems weird that I wont see her for 18 months. But I am so proud of what she is doing.

Sister Reeves Contact Info

MTC Address
Sister Chelstiene L. Reeves
SEP09 OR-POR
2009 N 900 E Unit 114
Provo Ut, 84602

Email
chelstiene.reeves@myldsmail.net

Oregon Address
Sister Chelstiene Reeves
C/O The Oregon Portland Mission
1400 NW Compton Dr Suite 250
Beaverton OR 97006

Packing

Trying to figure out how to pack. This is not an easy task since neither of us have ever flown on a plane. So I start packing like I would when I go camping. All clothes in one bag, bathroom stuff in another, and anything else in the last bag. Which will work for the MTC, but the plane is another story. The plane requires certain weights 50 lbs per checked bag and 45 lbs for the carry on (does this include a purse) and then you can't take certain things in the carry on bag. I know the carry on should contain essentials in case you luggage gets lost ( that would never happen). I hope someone at the MTC can help her pack for the plane because I just have no clue. At least the bedding I know how to pack. Her Mission President sent a letter saying I ship it off to Oregon this week. That will be easy right???

Final Farewell

Today was Chelstiene's last farewell. Yes, she had the "privilege" of doing two of them. She did awesome on both of the considering her nerves. The second one went much quicker because it was the same as the first one and she had it memorized. Same laughs and giggles. Family and friends came to see her which wasn't' easy since church was at 9:00 am.

Only 3 days left till she leaves till she leaves for the MTC. Then she will be off to Portland Oregon for 18 months.

She will be an amazing Missionary.

Here is a copy of her talk for those who missed it or would just like a copy.

Missionary work

It took me a long time to finally accept that I was supposed to go on a mission. When Pres. Monson first announced that young women could go on a mission at 19 years old, I had a feeling that I should go on a mission, but it didn’t seem realistic for me because I have a cat and a dog and car loan I need to take care of. So I brushed the feeling aside and moved on. But every time I would go to church someone would always find a way to talk about missionary work and I would get a feeling that it was meant for me and I should for on a mission, but I’m a very suborn person and I would just brush away the feeling I kept having because I felt like it wasn’t realistic for me to go on a mission with all the responsibilities I have taken on.

 At the same time all this was happening I started a new job through a temp. Agency and I was working as hard as I could to become permanently hired onto this very stressful job. I was very good at my job and always got high scores on my calls, but something inside of me kept saying I wasn’t going to be at the job for a long time. Which made me freak out and I somehow made myself sick to my stomach.

This all went on for about six months and when the third week of February came around and the lord is as stubborn as I am and I had this undeniable feeling that I needed to pray and ask if I was suppose to go on a mission. At this point I was scared to ask because I already knew the answer to my question. While I was on my way to work the next day I sat in my car and prayed.

Now let me tell ya! When Heavenly Father answers my prayers he makes sure I have no excuses to not do what I need to do. Right after my lunch break I was sent in a room with four women and our boss explained to us that the company had hired too many people and they had to let go about 150 of us and we were part of that group. So long story short I was laid off.

That day I called my mom and told her that I needed to talk to her after I cried about being laid off. That night I told her that I needed to go on a mission but I didn’t know what to do with my pets and my car payment, and my mom gladly said that she would take of my pets and my car for me while I was gone.

That Sunday I talked to my Bishop about going on a mission and had all my dental work and my doctor appointment completed, But like every missionary I went through my trials and I didn’t get my mission call until June. But it’s here and I’m going to Portland Oregon August 28^th and I couldn’t be any happier.

What is missionary work?

The Lord has declared that missionary work is the responsibility of all who follow Him (see Matthew 28:19–20; D&C 88:81). Members of the Lord's Church can, by the goodness of their lives and the strength of their testimonies, share the gospel message and help prepare family members, friends, and other acquaintances who are not Latter-day Saints to be taught by the full-time missionaries.

When we experience the blessings of gospel living, we naturally want to share those blessings with others. The Lord spoke of the joy that comes into our lives when we share His gospel.

Ensign, May 1997, 47–50).

When I was younger my family was not active in the church. My sister was baptized when she was 9, but that was about it. When my sister started her 9^th grade year of school she decided to go to Seminary and check it out. She always talked highly about her seminary class and loved that class. Then one day she asked my brother and I if we would like to have the missionaries come over. I didn’t think much of it at the time but I thought it sounded like a fun idea. It took some time for my sister’s seminary teacher to find the missionaries in our area but when he did the missionaries started coming over regularly. The only missionary I remember was Elder Clark he was from Canada. He went through so many partners I don’t remember any of their names, but I do remember that we always had a great time with them and they would always check in with us to make sure everything was ok. Thanks to the missionaries I was baptized when I was 12 and I have been active ever sense then.

In order for missionaries to be successful it takes a great deal of help from the wards. The wards are important because they help the missionaries find investigators and they also need to help the new converts feel welcome to the ward and their new environment. If it wasn’t for young women’s I think I probably would have fallen from the church. Throughout young women’s I have had six different sets of leaders. Now that I look back I know that each one of my leaders were meant to teach me something new and were sent to me to give strength and to help me gain a bigger testimony of the church.  All of my leaders have had different personalities and have always brought something new to the table. I am very grateful for all the things my leaders have done for me.

I also like being able to have Preach My Gospel early. While I would read it I would come up with more questions and I would be able to ask my Grandma or Jeff and they would be able to explain it to me better to so that when a investigator asks me the same question I will know the answer.

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