^^^ aint that pleasant?? hah... it's the truth, and I often sometimes forget how REAL he is, until he starts to grab hold and I gotta shake him off again. The hardest thing is watching others that get in his hold real deep thought and have a hard time shaking him off....
Ignore that last email.... I got a little carried away with buttons and it sent on accident. So here goes try #2
Hello everyone!
First off, I want to give a SHOUT OUT to the youth of the Clinton 12th Ward-- my favorite ward EVER. I love you guys so much!!!! Keep pushing through all that your doing!!! I hope you had a great time at Trek last week. THE PIONEERS ARE INCREDIBLE!! Do your family history. I am so blessed to be serving RIGHT where the pioneers walked and I have found that many of my ancestors were the pioneers that traveled through RIGHT here. Keep staying active in the gospel. Read your scriptures!!! AND GO TO SEMINARY!!!!!!
Yikes.. I usually type out the big email first, but I got a little caught up talking to all ya'll in my emails, so this might be a tad shorter...we'll see.
Wow.. this week has been so crazy.
First of, one our bestest friends in the family ward, who is still single, Jose, had a girlfriend now!!! We have been with him through thick and thin and he has been through SO MUCH in his life. It is amazing to see him SO HAPPY and now his super amazing girlfriend is taking the lessons:) We went to help her move out of her old house into a new apartment this last week and we are just so happy for him. GO JOSE. He is proof that even when you get the WORST situations EVER thrown at you (he's been a jail a couple times in the last 2 months) That there IS a happy ending and there CAN BE if you work for it. He's amazing. My homeboy!
Muasau and I are rappers... that's right! We've memorized the first minute and a half of the "Rapstoration" (look it up on youtube) it's the greatest thing ever.
We had another lesson with Ruben this week. One of our amazing members -Jake came with us to meet with him (Jake is a news anchor on NTV) and he pretty much taught the whole plan of salvation to Ruben. He loved it!!! Ruben is progressing well! His parents aren't too happy with him learning, but he's still coming and he's reading the Book of Mormon. He's having a hard time wanting to come to church though because his ex-girlfriend who introduced him to us.. is... well... his ex... haha So we'll figure it out. He went in for surgery a few days ago though, so It might be a while till we get to see him again.
Shai-- our OTHER famous member, performed at the county fair here in town and we got to go watch her! She introduced us to her friend Liza, who for one of her summer papers wrote an essay on Mormons because Shai gave her that suggestion and she did it! So through researching the church for her paper, she has become interested in learning and we were able to teach her about the Book of Mormon this week. She'll be moving in with Shai when school starts soon, so we'll get to start seeing her more <3
ALL our solid investigators are coming from the refurrals our members are giving us. It takes time for their friends to warm up to us, but ones we establish that friendship, it is SO EASY and FUN teaching them the lessons. THIS is how missionary work is!! So remember all ya'll back home.. MEMBERS are the full-time finders, and MISSIONARIES are the full-time teachers. INTRODUCE YOUR FRIENDS TO THE MISSIONARIES IN YOUR HOMETOWN!!! It is sooo easy and simple and I promise us missionaries won't bite:)
It was one of our favorite family's in the family ward's husbands birthday this last week! So we offered to make the cake for his big partay. He loves the broncos.. so I tested my cake decorating skills... hahah it was a REALLY SAD cake... but it tasted good, so YAY! Muasau is teaching me how to cook/bake. Poor her:) hahah
SURPISE!!! I got to see my brother and sister-in-law and niece this last week!! What missionary gets to say that??? Uhhh... like NOT MANY!!! They spent the night in Kearney as they are moving to Georgia and we got to see them for a quick visit. I LOVE FAMILY!!! And It's great to get the happy updates from home! My poor niece is scared of me though... haha but that will change when I smother her with my love when I get home:):) I was surprisingly not really distracted or homesick from seeing them, so that was GOOD!!! I know I am where I am supposed to be, and nothing can take my mind from that. I LOVE THE GOSPEL!!!! It seriously changes lives every day.
Got some HARD news this week though... the hardest thing about missionary work is seeing those you come to love, make choices that you can't control that you know will not be good for them.... Holy Cow. This branch is SMALL and we found out last night that many of our active members are struggling a lot!! They aren't making the best choices and those of us who are noticing it, don't know what to do to help them. And our investigators are witnessing it and are getting super confused as to what to do because those that are supposed to be the examples because they have the truth, aren't doing what they know they are supposed to. And some of them are return missionaries!! Please, always remember that you don't know who is watching you. If you don't want to be obedient because you feel like it's your life and you can do what you want, remember that your choices affect ALL those around you too. People are always watching. Heavenly Father is always watching. There are ALWAYS ways to turn around and use the Atonement, but consequences are always there too. Evaluate yourself every Sunday at Sacrament. That is what Sacrament is for. Take it worthily and see if you are truly happy. If you are truly happy with yourself, and if you aren't, then figure out what you need to do to fix it. Talk to our leaders-- that is what they are there for. HAPPINESS IS POSSIBLE!!! It takes work to live the gospel, but it is WORTH IT.
I love you all!! Always remember how REAL Satan is and always put on your Armor of God each day. It's ARMOR. That means it isn't always CONVIENIENT to put on, but it will save you from the slashes of the Adversary. And do it with sincerity!!! Trials will ALWAYS come, and you must ALWAYS be prepared. Even return missionaries can't avoid the slashes with the training they have had, He can get to anyone. So KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN!! I love you all, and I know we can fight him. I'm so grateful for the amazing examples and influences I have in my life and my heart rejoices in all of those who are still my brethren in the Lord. Keep it up, we can do it together. We know who is going to win this battle, so make sure you're preparing for the victory. Preparing to meet God.
WE CAN DO IT!!!!
I love you ALLLLLLL
Love, Sister Checketts
Pic"
#FriedFoodattheFair!! #ScoutingForAlex #Shai'sband #lookherup #support her
We are helping Shai put on a HUGE concert tomorrow night. An opportunity that we figured would bring in a lot of YSA age people so we can get to know more people. And Shai is SUPER talented, she's the BEST! So she's putting on a real live concert for the community tomorrow night. We've been handing out flyers for ti all week <3 SHE'S GONNA BE BIG!! Look up her music. Support her. We love her. Her band name is Scouting For Alex... and she's Shai Matson:):)
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