OMAHA!!

Hello everyone!! I'm in OMAHA:):)

I LOVE IT HERE!!! First off, it is SOOO much more green than I ever imagined, and it is NOT flat!! I've seen a few corn fields but not overbearing!  There are rolling hills and trees everywhere.

I am serving a the Millard ward. It is a little (town) maybe a half hour away from the trail center.
And GUESS WHAT?! I'm serving at the Mormon Trail Center! My trainer or "mom" (who is the absolute BEST) is Sister Brough. She is the greatest. The first day out here, President Weston took all the newbys to the trail center and to see a few sights around Omaha and the sister in the trail center gave us all a tour. Sister Brough was there and she sang a song the she wrote about one of the pioneer stories. I loved her when I first saw her and I wouldn't even know till a day later that she would be my companion. She's a whole foot shorter than me:) So everyone gets a kick out of us together. It's great:)

So I live in this little apartment like literally across the street from the trail center. Since Sister Brough is a trail center sister, it's because of her that I get to serve here. It's just me and her in the apartment, but there are maybe 5 other sets of trail center sisters that live in the same building that we do. It's a party:)

Dad... the sunsets here are INCREDIBLE!!! So much better than the ones at home. And we went running today and witnessed the sunrise. Oh gosh, God is wonderful:)

The bugs here... SO BIG. Sister Brough caught a spider in the trail center kitchen on saturday that was the size of a gumball. They put the spider in a jam jar and then (I don't know why) but they put the jar in the freezer. After our meeting, they brought us over to look at it and the spider had had babies while it was in the jar. So I think the dead spider and like 30 little baby spiders are still in the jar in the freezer.. We have a fun time here:)

We took pictures with Pres. Weston and Sis Weston (Sister Weston is SO CUTE!! She's like a mix of Kitty Barney and Tori Campbell- so sweet!) by the temple on our first day and there were so many bees flying around, they were about the same size as the spider we found.

It really isn't humid here at all... I was preparing for MUCH worse, but it isn't bad. People have said that it's been very mild lately though too. It really doesn't feel much different than Utah in A LOT of ways, but I love it:)

Anyway, usually we work at the trail center in the mornings from 9-3 and then drive out to our area in Millard for the evening for appointments and tracting.

My first time tracting, the sister asked me where to go and I had no clue. I picked a building, picked to go downstairs and then picked a door and we knocked. My heart was pounding so hard... But this cute cute little black mother opened the door and she had like 6 kids gathered around her. Instantly they ran out to give us hugs and we began talking to the mom. She was just on her way out to work, but said that we could come by again.

After that, the sister I was with turned to me and just gave me a big hug. She said they had been searching for the family of those children for quite a while and that that was the first new investigator that they had received in a few weeks. It was a huge testimony builder to me that this is the Lord's work and that the spirit directs us. It was the coolest thing.

My first time at the trail center I did a double tour with Sister Brough. We took these 2 teenage girls on a tour who weren't members. They were both about 20 years old and were just finishing up a program in which they had come to Nebraska with a Lutheran service group to give service for a year. They left for home Sunday and just wanted to stop a historic sites before they left. We gave them a tour and taught about the pioneers and the gospel and gave them book of mormons at the end. They seemed interested and gave us their emails so that we can email them when we have chat time. The great thing about serving at the trail center is that we have about 2 hours a week to sit on the computers and do proselyting with those that have come to the trail center and such. So I'm excited to email these girls this week. They are super cute.

FUNNY STORY!! So Sister Brough and I didn't have a dinner appointment on Saturday night, so before we took off to go to our area, so stopped at Taco Bell to grab food. We ordered and guess what the total came to... just guess!!

$6.66-- I started laughing so hard. Satan shows his face right to us and it was just hilarious. I kept the receipt cause it makes me smile.

The senior couples in our area are so cute! Because we work at the trail center, we get to know the sisters that work here really well because there are like 4 sets of sisters that work at a time. The senior couples also work here. So that's another reason why I love it. Those that are out full proselyting don't get to interact with other missionaries very often. I live with them and work with them every day!

When I first met Sister Brough, she told me what President Weston told her about me. She met with him before and said that I was A LOT taller that she was. He also told her that I was going to be a great leader in the mission (no pressure, right?) and that I demanded respect when I walked in the room. So naturally she pictured me as this strong Samoan girl who was tough and mean... She said she was relieved to see me :) But hearing what President Weston had to say about me before he even met me is crazy! Sister Brough said obviously he has big plans for me and that she would love for him to have the respect that he has for me. AHHHHH all I can say is that I hope to live up to his expectations.. Fingers crossed.

So.. I haven't received ONE letter since I've been here... shame on you.. haha jk. Our mail gets sent to the mission home and then the senior couples bring our mail here to the trail center. Hopefully I get some letters today. I know I have some on the way. I can only email family weekly and I can email friends once a month. But I would prefer having my friends WRITE me because then we can write however much we want. So that's that. WRITE ME! <3

P-day is MONDAY. It will probably change throughout the mission as I move around.

Mom and Dad- thanks for your emails! I hope you had fun on your trip!

Brandon and Kelly- Good luck with potty training CJ!! :) And Good luck with your dinner tonight:)

I love you all! The Savior lives and I feel him with me every day- I could not be this happy and strong through all this change if it weren't for him and for the knowledge that I KNOW this is the true gospel. He DOES answer our prayers and I have witnessed that multiple times while I've been here. So many tender mercies! I wish I had more time! I'll try to attach pictures if I can figure it out...

Have a great week! I hope to hear from you soon!

-Sister Checketts

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