An Abundance of Festivity

Never forget...

2012-02-18T21:02:00.002-06:00

‎"I would charge you to say again and again to yourselves, 'I am a [child] of God' and by so doing, begin today to live closer to those ideals which will make your life happier and more fruitful because of an awakened realization of who you are." - Harold B. Lee

A thankful Heart

2012-02-18T00:54:00.010-06:00

I'm at this wonderful point in my life called young adulthood. I've fallen in love a time or two, traveled, studied abroad, served a mission, had my heart broken, discovered several things I'm good at-- and even more that I need to work on, been lucky enough to make a few really wonderful lifelong friends, and blessed with amazing testimony-building experiences which have made completely clear in my mind and my heart that the restored gospel of Jesus Christ is 100% true. By every definition of the word I am blessed... Not to mention my fantastic forever family. Seriously, they're amazing.

In an effort to jump back into the blogging world and to continue documenting my young wonderful life, I will be posting at minimum one post a week expressing grattitude for the tender mercies the Lord bestows on me... After all, Izaak Walton said,

"God has two dwellings; one in heaven, and the other in a meek and thankful heart."

This week, I am thankful for:

Daily scripture study and the weekly opportunity to partake of the sacrament

The temple that is five minutes up the road from me

Sewing and creating beautiful things

Amazing friends like Jenn S., Bethany H., Rob B., and Aubin P. whom I get to see often

Good music on Pandora

My life experiences which give me wisdom, memories, and perspective.

What are you grateful for? Take thirty seconds and make a list... Try it, you'll like it!

'Tis the season...

2011-11-27T10:57:00.003-06:00

For Christmas lights at temple

Brett and I went with his good friends Steve and Jenna and took in the beautiful twinkling lights which set the perfect tone for this upcoming Christmas season! Carols were being sung, families were spending time together, the spirit was felt-- what a perfect way to spend a Sunday evening!

Looking forward to caroling, making gingerbread houses, enjoying the merriness of this season, and always remembering out wonderful Savior, Jesus Christ.

Only 27 days 'till Christmas!

'till we meet at Jesus' feet

2011-07-11T16:57:00.000-05:00

Dearest wonderful, amazing, superb, family,

Wow, what a whirlwind of a week it has been here in The Great Ohio Columbus Mission! Tuesday we began teaching a young man, George. He's 18 and lives in the very tip top of our area-- he was tracted into and accepted a copy of the Book of Mormon. He invited us back and we had a wonderful lesson about how the gospel of Jesus Christ can give him exactly what he wants-- things like a happy family, peace, and understanding. There is so much potential with him and his family!

On Wednesday, with everything in line, we were able to commit and begin working towards Kim Valdez and her son David getting baptized this Saturday the 16th of July-- Brother Valdez, Kim's husband, will be able to baptize them both and I couldn't be any more thrilled for this family. They have all been working so hard to get to where they were ready for this amazing life-altering step.

On Saturday, I was privileged to attend the temple as Pat and Greg Smith, from my first area, went through to receive their own endowments and then were sealed together for time and all eternity. This couple has quite a remarkable story-- when I was in Moundbuilders, they weren't coming to church due to work and health-related issues... They had just lost their way a bit and needed someone to reach out and rescue them. Sister (Jenn) Parry (Seiter) and I began working with them and reteaching the lessons and such with them and they began coming to church again. They have continued to grow leaps and bounds this last year and a half and it was one of the most joyous moments of my mission to be able to witness their family becoming a forever family. The Lord's plan is so amazing. In the temple I was blessed to be there with members from all three of the wards I have served in-- Many were there from the Moundbuilders ward in support of the Smith family, Sister Woods from Springboro was in the dressing room and we had the opportunity to catch up on all the good things happening there, and Brother Despain was the ordinance worker in the endowment session. I know that the temple is a glimpse of what the Celestial kingdom will be like when we re-meet all those who were so dear to us in this life!

Sunday was quite a day-- it was the perfect last Sabbath day on my mission. When the sacrament was blessed by Rob Baker (baptized in June), Passed by Jakob Mason (baptized in April), and partaken of by Kim Valdez (will be baptized 16 July), I experienced this moment of peace and satisfaction. All these people were exactly where they needed to be and I was privileged enough to help them get there. At the end of Sacrament meeting, we sang hymn number 152, 'God Be With You 'Till We Meet Again' and the chorister called me up to the stand as we sang the hymn. As I looked into the faces of the people I have loved and served with for the last nine months, I realized how much my heart and my life has been molded by them. There were several with tears in their eyes and I felt like my work here has really blessed more people than I know-- the thing is though, they have also effected me more than they will know. Isn't it amazing how the Lord brings people into our lives to help us become better and many times, they never know how much they touched our hearts? Our Gospel Principles class was on sacrifice and I realized that my perception and understanding of this eternal principle has changed over the last year and a half as I have realized that the Lord really asks so little of us in comparison to what He is willing to give us. Relief Society was about Family Responsibilities and I silently told Heavenly Father, "Ok, I get it... it's time to find a husband now!" and then after church we had a linger longer where the bishopric gave me a heartfelt thank you for my service in behalf of all the members of the ward-- they said I was now in the 'Missionary Hall of Fame' for the time I spent here and the work that has happened. It was too much, but I was really touched by their love. This ward is Zion.

With all this being said-- know this: I am happy and loving life. I love being a missionary, and I am looking forward with faith to the next phase of my life. My 'family' has grown so much while I've been here in The Ohio, and my experiences here will be forever treasured. Ohio has become a part of me, and I know that The Lord, in His infinite wisdom, knew I needed this in my life to become who he needs me to be. I am so very grateful for all the thoughts and prayers and letters and packages offered in my behalf-- I am so very blessed! Above everything, I want to witness to you that I know that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior. The Atonement is real and it is what will enable us to return to live with our Father in Heaven again. The Lord's kingdom is being established on the earth in these Latter Days and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is Christ's true and restored church. Joseph Smith is a prophet. He saw God the Father and Jesus Christ and was given the authority and revelations restore the fullness of the gospel with all the ordinances necessary for salvation. Thomas S. Monson is the prophet today. God hears and answers prayers. Families are eternal in nature. The Bible and the Book of Mormon are both true books of scripture and they contain the guidelines to happiness. Keeping the commandments brings us joy.

I love you. See you Friday. It's been a privilege.

Love,
Sister Chelsea Lynn LeSueur

Things i love about the ohio continued...

2011-07-11T16:18:00.000-05:00

i forgot these things in last week's list...

lawnmowers and tractors and combines driving down the road
all the shirtless men and boys-- they teach 'em young here in ohio!
sayings like ''couple three'', ''knee high by the fourth of july'', calling vacuums ''sweepers''
all the wildflowers growing everywhere
yard art-- cement geese and such

And this be our motto: " In God is our trust!"

2011-07-05T09:52:00.000-05:00

Dear Family,

I hope your 4th of July weekend has been as spectacular as mine! How grateful I am for this free country in which we live. The Lord has blessed this land for the purposes of bringing about the restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Because we have that gospel in our lives, we have the obligation to live it and share it. We read time and time again throughout all books of scripture that when God's people keep His commandments, they prosper in the land-- but when they don't, they are left to their own strength, and inevitable they become a fallen people. We must live the truth that God has given us and then we can have trust in Him that we will be ok, that He will guide us and protect us, that the things we do every day can and will bring us closer to Him if we do those things that He has commanded us. If there is one thing I've learned in the last eighteen months, it is that in God is MY trust. I am so grateful for this knowledge!

This last week has been really excellent! We had a wonderful lesson with Troy Collins. He's the husband of an active sister in the ward-- The Lord has been preparing him his whole life to accept the gospel, and the last nine months I've been in the area, we've been trying to help him and Sister Collins get closer to her deepest desire which is to be sealed to the man she loves for time and all eternity in the House of the Lord. We watched the movie the Restoration and after the film was over, he told us that he knows that it is true-- that Joseph Smith really did see our Heavenly Father and our Savior, Jesus Christ, as two separate and distinct beings in the grove of trees; that the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ is on the earth now. It was a very spiritual lesson-- Troy's son died when he was only 18, and it has really effected Troy. During the lesson, we all felt, very strongly, Troy Jr's presence. I know he is instrumental in preparing his dad to receive this gospel... Oftentimes the veil is a lot thinner than we recognize. God's plan is great, if we only trust Him!

In working with Angell, we have had some neat experiences too. She's a single mom in her 30s, and she has been talking to this man who she was really feeling a connection with. When we heard about this, we were excited for her, but a little apprehensive, because this man isn't a member of the church yet-- we know what she wants and we were worried that she would give up her dream of being sealed in the temple to a wonderful man for the one who is great and in front of her, but not yet at a place in his life where he can take her there. We were talking about this man though, and Angell, unprompted from us, told us that even if he is 'the one' she will not settle for anything less than a temple marriage. She recognizes the importance of the temple to her eternal happiness, and that is what she's set her sights on. We are so proud of her and the changes she's making in her life-- she's trusting God!

The gospel of Jesus Christ is true. Living it and keeping the commandments is the way to be happy. I love life!

Have a phenomenal week, and go spread the gospel!

Love,
Sister Chelsea LeSueur
xoxox

Things I love About The Ohio

2011-07-05T08:54:00.002-05:00

What are your top 10 favorite "Ohio" foods?
1. Squirrel... seriously, people eat it here!
2. mashed potatoes with chicken noodle soup over it
3. Amish donuts
4. Amish cheese
5. fresh garden veggies
6. fresh berries
7. Mi Fiesta restaurant in Newark
8. homemade pickles
9. sauerkraut and pork
10. apple butter

What are your top 10 favorite "Ohio" activities? (Not in order)
1. Corn hole
2. Being a Buckeye fanatic
3. Talking to people who sit on their porches all day
4. Driving in cornfields
5. Dodgeball at the Diamond Dome
6. Barbecues
7. Eating outside
8. Antique shoppes
9. Trying not to hit the Amish buggies who drive at dusk with no reflectors
10. Making copies at the church library

What are your top 10 favorite things about Ohio?
1. The people
2. The hills
3. The weather
4. The wards with ginormous geographical boundaries
5. The Ohio State University
6. German Village in Columbus
7. Clearfork
8. Springboro
9. Moundbuilders
10. The Amish
11. The trees
12. The seasons
13. The Zoo
14. The history
15. The architecture
16. The people who say words Newark like Nerk, or belafontaine like bell fountain.

In league with truth

2011-06-27T16:57:00.000-05:00

Dear Stupendous Family,

The gospel of Jesus Christ is true-- it is the thing that drives us to bless others, act in faith, and consecrate our lives. In the new testament, Matthew 7:20, we are told, "By their fruits, ye shall know them"-- what sort of fruits are we producing for all to see?

This week has been wonderful. We had Family Home Evening with an investigator, Angell, and her daughter Kirsten on Monday evening. We talked about self-worth and the importance of recognizing our spiritual gifts and using them to bless others. Tuesday we spent the morning with Kim and Eric Valdez and her son David and Sister Drake cleaning the Boyd's home. The Boyd family had to move to an apartment on one level due to Renee's cancer. Renee was supposed to be there to help, but when we were all there and she wasn't, we found an unlocked window, I climbed in, and let everyone else in! In a matter of three hours, we had the place spotless. We got a tearful phone call thanking us the next day. The chemo had made her sick and she had forgotten about our appointment to help clean. It was nice for them to have one less thing to worry about. That evening, we had a very spirit-filled lesson with Brandon and Amber Niccoletti about Joseph Smith. We watched the movie 'The Restoration' and she knows he's a true prophet. She and Brandon have been praying nightly both individually and as a couple and Amber has been reading and enjoying the Book of Mormon and the gospel principles book. They're doing very well! Wednesday we had dinner and Family Home Evening with Kim, Eric, and David. We had a lesson on David and Goliath and then went to the Book of Mormon class after-- the whole evening was spiritual, and the Book of Mormon-- we read Mosiah 8-- class was probably one of the greatest we've had in the nine months I've been here! Friday was President's last Specialized training (he and Sister Jensen will leave on the 30th) and it was spectacular. Very impacting. Saturday we spent helping at the wedding of a member who has been less active to another member who has been less active. When they got together, they just strengthened each other and came back to church and they will be sealed in the temple in one year. Sunday, Rob prepared and passed the sacrament, then after church, the Bishop's wife had us over for dinner, after which we went to see the temple and on to the mission home fireside. The Valdez family and Angell and Kiersten also came to the fireside. It was amazing. Everyone is just doing so well-- they are the fruits of this true gospel!

I love my Savior, Jesus Christ. The Atonement is real. The Book of Mormon is true. Families can be together forever.

Have an amazing week-- go share the gospel!

I love you!

Love,
Sister Chelsea Lynn LeSueur

Fill our hearts with joy and peace

2011-06-20T11:51:00.000-05:00

My dear, wonderful, superb, excellent, amazing family,

What a week it has been here in the Ohio... a good week with lots of emotion--- I'm still exhausted!

It seems like Satan's pattern is this: right before and/or right after something amazing happens he likes to throw a wrench in our lives. Well, with the amazingness that happened last invitation Sunday and all the good work we have happening here in the Clearfork ward, this last week was evidence of his sneaky slimy ways. Things were ok until Wednesday, then-- for whatever reason-- me, Sister Oliverson, Brother Brandt (our ward mission leader), and Rob Baker (our recent convert) just all had our own terrible emotional days! Now that doesn't mean we succumbed. We all took it in stride, and continued working to build the kingdom, but man, it was tough! Friday was probably the worst for me. It is our weekly planning day, I wasn't feeling well, and i was in a grumpy mood and we had an appointment with a sweet sister in the afternoon and because of everything going on, I wanted to be anywhere but that appointment. Sister Oliverson and I pleaded with the Lord before we left the apartment for his spirit to be with us-- we acknowledged our faults, expressed our desires to overcome them, and asked for the negative feelings to leave. When we pulled up to Angell's house in Shelby, we didn't feel miraculously different, but when we went in and began talking about the gospel and encouraging her in the things she is doing to bless her life and her daughter's live-- i was overwhelmed by a feeling of peace and joy. As she said a few things, just in conversation, I knew that my Heavenly Father was using her to answer my prayers and questions I had been having-- Angell really was an angel that day. We are each others angels, and so it is imperative that we listen to the promptings from the spirit to help our brothers and sisters out... even if we don't realize were doing anything! As emotional as it was, we taught a lot of lessons last week and got a lot done. I love being a missionary, because even the 'bad' weeks really aren't THAT bad! I tell you this not to evoke sympathy or what have you, but rather to showcase the Atonement and how aware our Heavenly Father is of each of us. No matter what feelings you're having-- good or bad-- He knows and is either rejoicing with or sorrowful for you. He wants us to be happy and receive His help, we just have to be willing to grab His hand.

Kim Valdez had us over Thursday night for their family home evening, which they planned and executed all by themselves! It was on Noah's ark and for dessert we had rainbow sherbet and animal cookies. I was so proud of them for doing such a great FHE-- It was kind of nice just to be a participant and not the teacher, but to recognize the changes they are making in their lives as a result of them learning about the gospel principles we've been able to teach! They are learning an applying and THAT is the Atonement in action!

Wow, how truly amazing the gospel of Jesus Christ is. I've seen it change lives and heal hearts in the almost 18 months I've had the privilege of being a full-time teacher of it. It's changed my life and healed my heart. How amazing that if we just give things over to the Lord we come out with more than we ever imagined-- we truly do have to loose our life in order to find it.

Jesus is the Christ and He is our Savior. He loves us and through His stripes we are healed. The gospel is true.

Happy Fathers day daddy-- you are an amazing man and the woman I am becoming is because of the daddy you are. Thanks!

Oh, and Congrats Ashley and Spencer on baby #3! I can't wait to meet her :)

I love y'all so much! Have a phenomenal week <3

Love,
Sister Chelsea Lynn LeSueur

Oh what songs of the heart

2011-06-13T17:01:00.000-05:00

Dear wonderful and amazing family,

Life is good and I adore being a missionary. I cannot even describe the feelings I receive as I put on the name-tag that bears the name of my family and the name of my Savior. When I get to represent Him all day, every day as I preach His gospel and help Him change the lives of my brothers and sisters, i receive joy unmatched by any other moment of my life. My purpose, as a representative of Jesus Christ, is to invite others to come unto Him by showing them that they deserve better than anything the world can give them. The good news of the gospel is that families can be together forever, and I get to help people learn this wonderful truth each and every day-- how great is my calling?! Preaching the gospel as a full time missionary and helping others the way Christ would if He were here has become the song of my heart :)

Yesterday our ward had an 'Invitation Sunday' where all the talks and lessons were focused on the Plan of Salvation. We made up invitations for the members to hand out to those they have wanted to invite to church for a long time but haven't for whatever reason so make the invitation as unawkward as possible-- it was a great day and we had several people accept invitations to attend church! The two I was most excited about was Troy Collins and Brandon & Amber Nicoletti who all came to church yesterday for the first time. Joy was brought to my heart when I saw them enter the church and then as I was able to watch the fellowship happen with the members, i wanted to sing! Everyone there truly felt welcomed and the spirit was felt so strong. We have our first 'official' lesson with Brandon and Amber tomorrow evening and we will be teaching Troy again on Saturday. These people are so precious to our Heavenly Father and I am so grateful to our merciful God for preparing them to receive the gospel the way He has!

The gospel is true. Living it brings happiness. Families can be together forever. Life is beautiful. I love you all more than life-- keep the commandments and be prosperous!

Love,
Sister Chelsea Lynn LeSueur

I have work enough to do.

2011-06-06T12:00:00.000-05:00

Dear family,

My attention this week has been brought to recognize and understand the dire effect our choices can have on us. Life is made up of choices-- and the fact that we have the ability to choose is evidence of God's love for us. I am so grateful for His love and His mercy and His forgiveness. The fact that we can either choose to follow God or not is a huge deal-- it breaks His heart when we choose to be disobedient, but when we choose to then become His disciples, it makes the latter choice all the more powerful. This is why agency is an essential part of His plan and an eternal principle. God's power has a lot to do with our agency. I love the Plan of Salvation and my Savior Jesus Christ. Repentance is real-- the Lord doesn't care so much about where you've been as he cares about where you're going.

Robert Baker was baptized of Friday evening and it was one of the most spiritual baptisms I have ever had the privilege of attending. Sister Oliverson and I sang Sweet Hour of Prayer because it is Rob's favorite song, after which he stood and bore powerful testimony of the Atonement and the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I know that I am the missionary, but I have learned so much from Rob. He truly is a student of scripture and a seeker of truth. He is preparing to serve a mission and wherever he goes, he will be the key to thousands of peoples' conversions. He's phenomenal.

Kim and Eric Valdez have made numerous changes in their lives so they can live more in accordance with the gospel of Jesus Christ. He is working on himself so he can baptize his wife and step-son-- and that may be happening sooner than we thought... like, this weekend. After learning about the Word of Wisdom, Kim emptied all her wine bottles and other drink mixers. She has such strong faith. It's another instance of the future being more important than the past.

Wow. Time is flying so quickly. Sometimes I just want to press pause, but that isn't in the Lord's plan, and so we just must make each moment matter. How grateful I am for this time to learn and grow in The Ohio. It is the greatest decision I have ever made to be here. Thanks family for helping me get here.

I know this is the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. I know the Book of Mormon contains the information we need to be happy. I know we can be together as a family forever as we live worthily of the blessings. I know that Jesus is the Christ. I know that we can change and become better as we live His gospel and allow Him to enter into our hearts. Of these things I am sure.

I love you more than life!

Love,

Sister Chelsea LeSueur

Sweet is the work

2011-05-31T12:54:00.000-05:00

Hello wonderful family,

Heavenly Father loves me-- and one of the many evidences of this is my new companion-- Sister Angela Oliverson from Shelley, Idaho. She has been out about eight months and she's fantastic. She dresses so cute and has such a non-shy dynamic personality that the ward has really just fallen in love with her in the few short days she's been here. Ahh-- Heavenly Father is so good to me, and I know she's exactly the one who needs to be here in the Clearfork ward! :)

It has been an exhaustingly wonderful week-- The following are a couple of the highlights:

Rob Baker was interviewed for baptism on Saturday and he couldn't be more excited to become a member of the church. His fall plans include coming to Provo and attending BYU in the fall in preparation for his mission. He's going to convert entire nations when he serves his mission! His baptism will be this Friday evening at 6:00 and we are so ecstatic for him! He's a phenomenal kid who has overcome a lot and who is sacrificing a lot in his quest for truth.

Kim and Eric Valdez came to church on Sunday and we had a lesson with them after church was over. Last Tuesday we had taught them the Restoration and the spirit was felt so strongly by everyone. We committed her to read and pray about the Book of Mormon and to know that Joseph Smith is a prophet-- she agreed and so our apt with her yesterday was to follow up on that. She has been reading it and is gaining a testimony of it. We invited her to prepare herself for baptism on June 18th, and she said yes and is very excited about it. Oh my goodness-- this family is going to be a powerhouse in the Clearfork ward. Eric quit his job of 20 years last week because it required him to work Sundays and took him away from his family. Huge leap of faith for which he was immediately blessed. The next day, he got an interview with a competing company who was flying here from Chicago today to interview him. The Lord asks so little of us and gives back so much. I'm so excited for this family!

Good luck to Kevin week with his tests. I've seen Grey's Anatomy, so I know how taxing those tests can be ;) You're in my prayers, and I know that if you do the best you can and fast and pray for help, the Lord will take care of the rest... You're in my prayers this week!

Happy Graduation Trev... You've made me a very proud sister. Keep up the good work!

I know this is Christ's true church. The work of proclaiming the gospel is indeed sweet, and I am so grateful for the tools and resources we've been given so that we can know the things we need to in order to return to live with Heavenly Father and help our brothers and sisters get there as well. Families can be together forever!

I love you-- have an amazing week... live your life and enjoy it <3

Love,
Sister Chelsea LeSueur

Our Savior's love shines like the sun with perfect light

2011-05-23T16:54:00.000-05:00

Hello wonderful, magnificent, beautiful, amazing, faithful family!

I hope the sunshine is radiating in your lives today, no matter what the weather is like outside. We have a loving Heavenly Father, our Savior, Jesus Christ, lives, and the gospel is on the earth once more-- with knowledge like this, how could anyone be glum?! It is a beautiful day here in The Ohio, which is great because 1) it's my half birthday 2) we went to the zoo today and 3) the day began with thunderstorms! Hah, when we pulled up to the zoo, the sun simultaneously came out. It was wonderful-- the Lord had 15 missionaries praying for sunshine and He answered our prayers... We are so spoiled.

I had a conversation with Rob Baker, one of our investigators and he asked me how I could be so optimistic and endlessly happy... my response? When you know the gospel is true and understand the Plan of Salvation, everything else seems so insignificant-- besides that, you understand that as long as you do your part, the Lord will take care of the rest. Everything will work out in the end so long as we try our hardest to keep the commandments and follow the promptings of the spirit. I think one of Satan's biggest tools is getting us wrapped up and caught up in the bad news of the world, the mistakes we've made, and the things we have no control over...Pessimism. But through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, all that is unfair about life, can be made right, all the mistakes we've made can be overcome, and all the hurt can be healed-- Satan would have us loose sight of this, but if we fall prey to this tactic of his, we will destroy ourselves because Gods create, devils destroy. We must cling to the gospel, keep the commandments, and live up to our covenants with unwavering faithfulness, and then we can be optimistic knowing that all our shortcomings will be overcome by the Atonement of Christ. This is the 'good news' of the gospel.

It has been a wonderful week. I love being a missionary!

Rob is progressing nicely and is excited for his baptism on 4 June... Conversely, we're excited for him. He has been so prepared by the Lord and has received a lot of answers to prayers this week. Ironically, he was offered two different job positions this week at two different Baptist churches, writing for them. It is his dream to be a writer. He was talking about how he would have to turn them down because he no longer shares their beliefs and explain to them that after two years of Baptist Bible College, that he's becoming a 'Mormon'-- but even as he was trying to sound pessimistic about all of it, he pointed out that he will have the opportunity to share the gospel with these men on a level that no missionary knocking on their doors ever would simply because he's a respected colleague of theirs. His ability to sort through scriptures and truth and understand how he must live and apply it is amazing.

Kim, Eric, and David came to church yesterday and loved it-- They stayed for all three hours and David really enjoyed Primary. We taught them the Plan of Salvation earlier this week and it brought a lot of clarity to them-- Kim especially-- on the questions she's always had. It feels so good to bring light into people's lives. They're doing really well and it won't be too long before Kim and David are baptized and Kim and Eric can be sealed for time and all eternity in the House of the Lord. I love being a missionary.

With transfers this week, things are kind of up in the air, but I know the Lord is in charge and whatever needs to happen for me, for Sister Vaasili, for the area, and for the other areas in the mission will happen. I know that with perfect certainty.

The gospel has been restored and it is true. Life is beautiful.

Have a superb week!!

Love,
Sister Chelsea LeSueur
xoxox

Put your shoulder to the wheel...

2011-05-16T11:54:00.001-05:00

Dear most excellent family,

Hello from The Ohio-- it has been another rainy, happy, wonderful, miracle filled week here in Clearfork. I just love being a missionary, and I am so grateful for this time I have to be an instrument in the Lord's hands. He is so good to allow me to have these amazing faith-promoting experiences. I know that I am laying the groundwork for the rest of my life-- this is the turning point for me, and I am grateful for His love, mercy, faith, and trust in me!

Supposedly, the allergies this year in this area are the worst they've been in years (it seems like they say that every year, in every area though), and people are having a really hard time with them-- I am no exception. What started out as allergies in the beginning of last week turned into a full blown cold towards the end of the week. It's been a bit of a struggle, and the cold rainy weather isn't helping matters much-- Saturday evening, we were supposed to go to the adult session of stake conference with the Saunders, a recently baptized family in our area. Well, tornadoes were threatening, and Marla didn't feel comfortable leaving her kiddos with a babysitter under such conditions. When she called to cancel with us, we were a little bummed out. We figured maybe it was the Lord's way of making me rest my body, so we went home around 7:00. When we got home, I felt this overwhelming impression that we needed to go see the Amicks, a part member family in our ward who lives here in Galion. When we knocked on their door, no one was home. Puzzled, we walked back to the car, and just as I was about to sit down, I just knew that we needed to knock on doors on that street. Well, everyone we talked to was, shall we say, less than receptive-- everyone until we got to the last house on the street. There, we met Pam Lorris and her 4-year-old son Garrett. We had a wonderful conversation with her which lead into a lesson about how Christ's one true church has been restored to the earth after centuries of it being distorted. She talked about how she believes in God and Christ, but doesn't go to church because they all disagree with and contradict each other. It was an amazing lesson, mostly because I knew the words coming out of my mouth weren't my own. I knew that the Lord lead us directly to her because he knows and loves her and her family. We have another appointment with them tomorrow afternoon! How great it is to recognize and be able to see the specific ways that the Lord is using you as a tool in His hands!

Yesterday, another missionary miracle happened-- when we got to church, we were introduced to a 21-year-old man who had come to church for several weeks when he was 16, then his family, who thought it was the end of the world, put a stop to it. Rob baker came back to church yesterday, and we were able to teach him after church. We had a wonderful lesson-- he isn't going to be your 'average investigator'... he probably knows more about Mormon doctrine than many members of the church. He is a philosophy major, and so he likes to philosophize -- and he stated yesterday in our lesson, that if there is ANY truth, there has to be ONE truth that is right for ALL. He has studied all different faiths and has determined that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints has something that no one else has, and he wants to find out what that something is. At the end of the lesson, we felt impressed to give him a copy of the Family Proclamation, and set up an appointment for Wednesday. About two hours after we parted ways, he called us, said that he read the Proclamation, and told us that he wants the things for his family that are outlined in the Family Proclamation, and he didn't want to wait until this Wednesday to meet with us. We'll be having another lesson with him today at 4:00. The Lord has definitely prepared him to receive the word with joy (Alma 16:16-17). This is His work!

I love you all. I know this gospel is true. The Book of Mormon teaches us how to return to live with our Father in Heaven. Families can be together forever-- Have a wonderful week!

Love,
Sister Chelsea-a-Lynn LeSueur

I want to share my life with them through all eternity!

2011-05-09T11:51:00.001-05:00

Dear family,

It was so excellent to be able to have the privilege to talk with y'all yesterday! It reminded me just how wonderful you are, and my resolve to do everything necessary to be able to qualify for the blessing to spend eternity in your presence was strengthened! Thank you for always being so supportive and loving. Thank you for always setting such great examples of living the gospel and striving to become like our Savior. Actions speak louder than words, and I am grateful for your actions :)

Well, as I mentioned on the phone yesterday, Eric and Kim Valdez and her son David came to church yesterday, and while they could only stay for sacrament, they were beaming with happiness the whole time! Eric is a less active member who married Kim and moved here about three years ago. He grew up in an active family who lives out in California-- but due to some personal struggles, and his job travel, he hasn't come more than a couple of times since he's lived here in Galion. About two weeks ago, we received some papers from the Bishop of people to look up in our ward who have relatives SLC cannot find... Eric was one of them. Sister Vaasili and I tried a couple of times to see him that week, but he wasn't ever home. The next week we were talking to our former bishop, asking him for his thoughts about whom we should go see, and Bishop Goodwin brought up Eric's name. When we got back in the car, we both laughed because we KNEW the Lord was directing us back to his home. When we got back into our neighborhood, it was about 845 at night, and we were just going to head home... But we knew we needed to stop back by Eric's home-- so feeling a little awkward knocking on this man's door whom we haven't met before so late in the evening, we followed the spirit and had a lovely conversation with him on is front porch. He explained his situation, and we asked him if we could come back and meet with his wife and stepson another day, earlier in the evening. Last week, we went back for that meeting and talked about the family proclamation. They told us how they want to re-prioritize their lives and committed themselves to nightly family prayer. We felt the spirit, fell in love with this sweet little family, and left. About 30 minutes after we left, we received a phone call from Eric who was on his way to get a haircut, thanking us for bringing the spirit into his home. He said it had been so long since he had felt it... Then he began to tear up as he told us that when he left his house, Kim was on the computer looking up Mormon.org. He told us they had talked and would definitely be at church on Sunday even though he had to come home early from a business trip to do so, and then he told us that he feels that Kim is the most prepared she's ever been to receive the gospel. When they were at church on Sunday, beaming with happiness, so was I-- This family is on their way to becoming a forever family :)

Also, Jakob Mason passed the sacrament for the first time yesterday-- it was a really great day!

Please know how much I love you... The gospel is true-- Jesus is the Christ-- Families can be forever.

Have a phenomenal week and look for the joy in life!

Love,
Sister Chelsea-a-Lynn LeSueur

Teach me, Lord, to be a shepherd; Father, help me feed thy sheep

2011-05-02T11:53:00.001-05:00

Hello, dear family, from The Ohio!

Happy May! I cannot believe we've begun the 5th month of the year. I cannot believe we've begun the 16th month out of 18. I cannot believe time flies so quickly-- one might even say it "flies on wings of lightening"! Hah, I love the hymns of Zion :)

It has been another great week here in Clearfork, and even though 90% of our appointments were canceled, or we had to cancel them due to Sister Vaasili and a terrible toothache which we're going to the dentist for today, we had some wonderful lessons, met some great people, and had a phenomenal day at zone conference on Thursday.

We had a wonderful new member lesson with Gene and his boys, at Brother Hawk's home, about the priesthood. This was especially appropriate because Gene and Jakob received the priesthood the previous Sunday, and yesterday Gene passed the sacrament-- Jakob will next week... Gene told us that he wanted to show his son 'how it was done'. I thought that was cute! We are working to transition their lessons from us teaching and members supporting to members teaching and us supporting. It worked really well Thursday-- Brother Hawk put a lot of effort into his lesson and the spirit was very strong. This Thursday, we will have another lesson with them and it will be a review of sorts in the from of Jeopardy. It should be fun, and hopefully it peeks these adolescent boys' attention and memories!

Yesterday, my testimony about prayers being answered and fasting was strengthened. It being fast Sunday, I fasted to receive personal revelation as to how we can best help a recent convert family remain strong in the gospel and become more solidly converted, and for this family to recognize where their priorities ought to be. When I was reading my scriptures before and during the sacrament yesterday, I came across Alma 23, which talks about the Anti-Nephi-Lehies' conversion, and received the distinct impression to share this scriptural account of this group of people burying their weapons of rebellion because of their true conversion. Then last night, we received a phone call from our ward mission leader who had stopped by their home and she had quit her job because it was interfering with church and family. What an amazing and very tangible example of prayers being answered and fasting being a means of strength and knowledge! I love the Lord-- He is so very good to us!

I know that the Book of Mormon is true, Jesus is the Christ, and families can be forever. The Lord wants us to feed His sheep, and if we truly love Him, that is exactly what we will do-- even (and especially) if it means, as it did for Peter in the New Testament, leaving our nets and our old life behind. We must rescue and feed His sheep.

I love you guys so very much-- Go preach His gospel!

Love,
Sister Chelsea Lynn LeSueur

He is risen!

2011-04-25T11:52:00.000-05:00

Dear wonderful family,

Happy Easter-- Christ the Lord lives and what an amazing thing that is! Because He overcame the bands of spiritual death on the cross, and the bands of physical death when He was resurrected, we can all live with our Father in Heaven again, and we WILL all be resurrected after death. The gospel of Jesus Christ really is good news and it is so true.

The Lord helped us find a sweet woman when we were knocking on doors named Sarah Fox. She is in her early 20s and has two little guys (ages 2 and 1). We had a return appointment with her this last week and taught her about the restoration. She has been quite prepared by the Lord and we know we were lead to their home. We will be having a lesson with her and her husband this week, and I am excited to continue teaching them! She was really excited when we told her about the Book of Mormon, and before we could even invite her to read and pray about it, she asked us if she could have a copy. She was unable to make it to church yesterday, because she was already scheduled to work, but, I'm hopeful about the future. I just know we were sent to this family for the two darling little boys. They will be excellent missionaries one day-- they're part of the Lord's priesthood army!

Yesterday after church, we had an amazing lesson with Jeff Boyd. We haven't really been teaching him since before Christmas. If you will remember, he was progressing towards baptism, got scared, and backed way way off. Because of the circumstances, we had no other choice but to back way way off too. We had dinner with their family Friday evening (where I had liver and onions for the first time... If you've never had it, you're not missing much!), and we felt impressed to talk about the Book of Enos with him, which really focuses on prayer and the effort we must put into our prayers being answered. Well, after dinner, we ended up talking about how the Book of Mormon was translated and Joseph Smith and such, and we ran out of time to talk about Enos. We asked him to read it and set up an appointment to discuss it after Church on Sunday. He surprised us and showed up to church, and he had even read his assignment! When we talked after church, we had a lesson where the spirit was the strongest I had ever felt in a lesson with him. He told us how he really related to Enos, and how he felt like he was reading about who he could be. We talked about the relationship between desires, faith, and work. We talked about how converts are the key to their ancestor's salvation in the spirit world, and about how they are also the key to their progenitor's salvation, and then we asked him what he was willing to do to receive an answer to his prayers. He said, "well, I should probably come to church every week. Maybe I should dust off this book (motioning to the Book of Mormon in his hands), and I really need to pray." Oh man, I was so excited to hear him say these things, because he's finally starting to connect the dots-- but the real excitement came when we asked him if he would do them. In times past, whenever we would leave a commitment with him, he would always say, "I don't want to make any promises" or "I'll try" but this time, he said, "Yes. I will. " We then asked him if he would work towards being baptized, and he said, "Go big or go home, right? Yes." Now, "Go big or go home" is a phrase I always use... and he's catching the vision-- Truly, it was an Easter miracle, and I know the Lord has been softening his heart!

I have really been studying the Atonement this week. I am so grateful for my Savior, the Atonement, and the perfect love both He and our Father in Heaven has for us. I feel like I have grown so much in my understanding of this central aspect of the gospel, and I know that I will continue to learn more as I study it throughout my life. How fortunate we are to have the scriptures!

Life is great. Being a missionary is great. The gospel is phenomenally true.

Have a wonderful week, and share the good news of the gospel!

Love, Sister Chelsea Lynn LeSueur

Give our love and pledge our all...

2011-04-18T11:55:00.000-05:00

Dear family,

Easter week is here already. Mother's day is in 20 days. Forsythia and magnolia trees are blooming. Rain is falling. Spring is officially here! With passover week, I am feeling very fortunate as I was passed over from the dreaded transfer call telling me that the time had come to leave my dear little Clearfork ward. I get to enjoy another blessed six weeks here, and I am thrilled because I just wasn't ready to leave yet! There's still so much work to do!

It has been a wonderful week as we have sought out less active members and looked up potential investigators and tracted around them all. We have a few promising return appointments for this next week, and I'm really excited to hear about all the ways the Lord has been preparing these people to receive the gospel! At this one less active member's home, we found out that the family had moved to Michigan-- but in talking to the sweet woman who answered the door, Rebecca, we found out that her best friend is a member of the church, she has read parts of the Book of Mormon, and she and her husband are active in the youth ministry of their church. They have 3 kids and one on the way, and she said we could stop back by in a few weeks. I really feel like the Lord lead us directly to her... Missionary work is wonderful!

Brother Hansford Minner, whom I have written about before, was an elderly man here in the Clearfork ward. He was baptized a few years ago, and we had been working with him to get to the temple-- he has been sick since January and in and out of the hospital. The last month he has been in the hospital in failing health due to heart and gallbladder complications, and on Friday morning, he passed away-- quietly in his sleep. It made me really grateful for the Plan of Salvation... Knowing our Father in Heaven's plan for us takes some of the sting out of death. I know it is a blessing that he was released from his lonely circumstances and frail body. I know that he can now progress in a way that was nearly impossible for him to do here in the conditions under which he was living. We will miss visiting with and teaching him, but now he can teach the gospel to others who have also passed on. How merciful, amazing, and perfect the plan of our God is!

With Easter this Sunday, let our thoughts this week be centered on our Savior and the Atonement. No matter what Wal Mart would have you believe, Easter is not about plastic eggs, candy, and cute bunny decorations-- Easter is about the miracle that occurred three days after Jesus the Christ chose to experience death. It is about His resurrection. Because he was resurrected, we all will be able to have out physical bodies and spirits reunited, perfected, and glorified for eternity. Is a stream of several merciful acts of love, Christ overcame the effects of the fall of Adam-- he made it possible for us to overcome spiritual death (our separation from God), and physical death (our spirit's separation from our body) . Because of His love, we can return to live with God and our families can be together forever. Think about your relationship with Christ, and choose one thing you will work on to become more like Him this week. I know that if you do this, it will make this Easter Sunday more meaningful and special to you, and you will grow closer to Christ.

Jesus is the Christ, and he loves!

Love,
Sister Chelsea LeSueur

We are all enlisted 'till the conflict is o'er

2011-04-11T11:54:00.000-05:00

Dear family,

Spring has spring, flowers are beginning to pop up all over the city, and we had an 80* day yesterday for the first time this season-- and except for seeing all the half-naked people who have been waiting all winter to walk around wearing just about nothing, it was delightful! I told Sister Vaasili to watch out for summer, because that's when just about everyone wears their underwear just about everywhere they go! I love The Ohio! :)

It was a great week, culminating at the baptism and confirmation of the Mason family this weekend. We had the amazing opportunity to go on companion exchanges this Wednesday to Thursday. Sister Vaasili went to Powell and Sister Pettigrew came from Powell to Clearfork. Ever since I arrived in the field, Sister Pettigrew and I have wanted to be companions... she unfortunately is making the transition from full-time missionary to full-time member missionary this week at transfers, so things were looking like they weren't going to happen for our desired companionship until we received the phone call last week from Sister Jensen with the good news! Shoot, 24 hours is better than nothing! We had an excellent time together, and did a lot of good work in the short time she was here. It was such a tender mercy of the Lord, because it was exactly the pick-me-up that I needed!

The baptism for the Masons went well... they were a few minutes late because they forgot their all-important towels and undies-- so they had to turn around and get them. The spirit was very strongly felt, there were several members in attendance to show their love and support for this family, and they each received the first of the saving ordinances necessary to return to live with our Father in Heaven. Gene was glowing, Zack, the 10 year old, said he felt 'refreshed', and even Jakob, the 13 year old, cracked a smile! I am so grateful to have been able to witness this family's transformation as they were taught by the Holy Ghost the gospel of Jesus Christ and began to implement its teachings into their lives! Truly a life-changing transformation has taken place-- member missionary work is the BEST!

Marjorie and her Son Aaron BOTH came to church yesterday. She's come to church a couple times since we began focusing on her, but her 32 year old son who struggles with alcoholism hasn't ever been. We got the Elder's Quorum to get in on the fellowshipping and they picked him up and brought him to the priesthood session of conference two weeks ago, then he came to sacrament meeting yesterday. It was wonderful to see him there. In talking to him last week, he told us that he feels like he missed the starting bell... we told him that because the Lord loves us, through repentance and the Atonement, there are many starting bells. It's so true. If he is committed to turning his life around, he can do it, and the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Atonement, and fellowshipping from the members is how it is going to happen! Also, as we talked with Marjorie last week, she expressed her desire to attend the temple. We're getting her started on genealogical work and will get her in a temple preparation class as she firms her resolve to meet this excellent and very worthy goal. Everyone deserves a chance to turn their life around!

Transfers are this week, so we'll see what happens... I wouldn't be surprised if I leave, I have been in Clearfork/Zion for 6 blessed months! Still, I would love to die here! I'll report on the results of transfers next week! Any mail this week should be sent to PO Box 939 Powell, Ohio 43065 to make sure I receive it!

This gospel is true. I love it with all my heart. Jesus is the Christ. He is our Savior, older brother, and friend. We must study the scriptures so we can know him and so he can become our BEST friend. The Book of Mormon is true. Joseph Smith is the prophet of the restoration. Thomas S. Monson is his successor, and leads the church as the Lord's prophet today. Families can be together forever!

I love you so so so much!

Love,
Sister Chelsea Lynn LeSueur
xoxox

Come listen to a prophet's voice

2011-04-04T12:33:00.000-05:00

Dear wonderful family,

What an amazing weekend we've had, being able to listen to the living, modern day prophet, his apostles, and other members of the seventy and auxiliary leaders during General Conference. Truly the words we heard are the words of the Lord-- we must study them, and apply them to our lives and within our families. I know that the things said in the last two days are the things the Lord would have us know for these Latter-day times in which we live. I know that as the words came out of the prophet's mouth, it is the same as if they were coming from the lips of the Lord, for President Thomas S. Monson truly is his mouthpiece. I know that we have a loving Heavenly Father who wants us to return to live with Him, and that is why we have a prophet on the earth today-- to give us the instructions we need for our time as we study and live the principles taught in the scriptures and work our hardest to become more like our Savior, Jesus Christ. The fact that the gospel has been restored with a living prophet to guide it under the direction of the Lord is evidence of God's love and mercy.

I particularly enjoyed the council given by Lynn G. Robbins of the seventy on the act of being and not just doing. He commented on the fact that so many people have "to do" lists, but very few make "to be" lists. Well, last night in my journal, I took his comment to heart and made my own "to be" list, and I have to say, in the half a day since I made that list, I have been much more conscientious of the things I do. As I laid in my warm bed last night, exhausted from the spiritual high I've been on for the last two days, and realized that I had forgot to floss my teeth before I brushed. I was tempted just to ce'st la vie, but then I remembered that just an hour earlier, I had written on my "to be" list the word diligent. Well, I got myself out of bed, flossed my teeth, and returned with the satisfaction of knowing I was working on who I want to become one small choice at a time. I highly recommend that you come up with your own list of who you want to be!

Gene, Jakob, and Zak Mason are ready and excited for their baptism this weekend on Saturday, 9 April at 6:30. They have made such excellent changes in their lives and it is really showing in their family! They are saying family prayers and reading and discussing the things they've read in the Book of Mormon. We had a wonderful lesson last week on the commandments we've been asked to do by our Father in Heaven and the boys were so excited and they came to realize that keeping the commandments is a tool to keep us happy! We talked about who Christ is and what His Atonement covers. They are beginning to feel a small amount of the love that their Father in Heaven feels for them, and they are becoming happier as a result. I am so SO excited for this family!!

Well, I want you to know that I have a testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He lives and he loves us. I loved what was said on Saturday during conference-- "Adam chose to experience spiritual death so that the rest of us could have physical life, and Christ chose to experience physical death so that all of us could experience spiritual life." What a wonderful thought full of truth. I am grateful for our loving Father in Heaven. He also lives and has a body of flesh and bone. We were created in His image and when we keep his commandments, we can be happy and through sacred restored covenants, we have the potential to be able to live with our families forever in His presence. Truly, THIS is the "good news" of the gospel, and it's true.

I love you all so much. Have a good week and live what you've learned! Go spread the gospel and help others to be happy!

Love,

Sister Chelsea Lynn LeSueur

Today seek for goodness, virtue, and truth

2011-03-28T11:48:00.001-05:00

Dear mi familia,

What a beautiful day today is. I can't believer we're to the end of March already, and that another season has passed. Time just flies much, much too quickly! With General Conference this weekend, and the knowledge that Jesus Christ lives and is our Savior, what is there to worry about-- nothing else matters!

I told you about Gene and his two boys, Zack and Jacob, last week-- the new family we're teaching who was brought to church by a sister in the ward three weeks ago. We have had some really wonderful lessons with them this last week, and they readily accepted the commitment to prepare for baptism on the 9th of April, in two weeks! Gene has quit smoking and committed yesterday to quit drinking coffee. He already is noticing the blessings in his life and in his family since focusing more directly on living the gospel of Jesus Christ. Yesterday, as we spoke to Jacob, the 13-year-old, about his reading in the Book of Mormon, he commented on how amazing Nephi is to be so obedient and faithful despite his wayward brothers. I was so proud of him for catching onto that key detail. They are both bright boys who want to do better, and I know there is a void being filled as they come to church every week, and read and pray daily. Their family is happier, and Jacob looked a little less like an angsty teenager yesterday than in the previous weeks we've seen him!

In the Book of Mormon Class that we teach at the church every week, we were teaching Jacob 5-- the allegory of the tame and wild olive trees. In the allegory, the tame olive tree represents the House of Israel and the wild olive tree represents the gentiles; there is the master of the vineyard and he has a servant-- the Master represents our Father in Heaven and the servant represents anyone laboring in the Kingdom of God-- for this email, the servant will be representative of Christ-- It really struck me, as we were teaching, the numerous chances the Lord gives the trees (us) to produce good fruit. When the master is ready to burn his vineyard because of the no good trees (justice), the servant pleads with the master to allow him to work a little longer and a little harder to make the trees bring forth good fruit (mercy). We are given so many opportunities to bring forth good fruit-- whether through trials or blessings, we have the opportunity to change-- nevertheless, at the end, if those trees still were no good, they had to be burned for the good of the vineyard, and so it is with us. If time after time we refuse to change, the hand of the servant can only stay the master's inevitable plan so long. I am grateful for the mercy and justice of the Lord's kingdom, for we are blessed by both. One cannot exist without the other-- and I am eternally indebted to my savior who made it possible for mercy to be exercised in my behalf.

The gospel is so true-- we have the opportunity to watch conference this weekend and pray to know without a doubt that Thomas S. Monson is the Lord's prophet on the earth today-- don't miss this opportunity for spiritual growth and testimony strengthening!

I love you tons and tons,
Sister Chelsea Lynn LeSueur

My heart shall triumph in my Lord

2011-03-21T09:47:00.000-05:00

Dear family,

Happy Spring!! Oh, I just love this time of year! Spring is just one more evidence of our Father in Heaven's love for us!

It has been a wonderful week of member missionary work up here in the great Clearfork ward... Last Sunday, Iris Jiminez in the ward brought a new friend and his two sons to church. They loved it, and they left right after church, before we could set up a return apt with them. So, Thursday, we called Sister Jiminez and she told us that Gene really wants to take the lessons, and yesterday after church we taught him about the restoration of the gospel. He said that in the last week, he has already recognized bits and pieces of truth that were left out of his Pentecostal upbringing. We explained that the light of Christ, which we're all born with, lights up around truth as the Holy Ghost bears witness about things of God. He is a good man who sincerely wants to raise his 11 and 13 year old boys up to be good men-- we talked a lot about how the gospel blesses families and how the Book of Mormon is the best parenting manual ever written. He is reading and praying every day and we will be teaching them again Thursday night. Iris was just glowing as her new-found friend was learning the gospel. Member missionary work, the act of sharing the gospel with our family and friends, is so rewarding for both the giver and the receiver!

A recent convert, Abby Ritchey, also brought a friend, Mona, to church yesterday. The lesson in gospel principles class was on the Atonement, and so were the talks in Sacrament meeting-- it was perfect for her, and it really seemed to fill a need that she had. We have an appointment to go and teach her more this Friday. I'm go excited! She seems like a wonderful woman who sincerely wants to draw nearer to the Lord. As we talked about the resurrection in Sunday School, she wasn't understanding everything, so she raised her hand and asked! I was so glad that she felt comfortable enough, and desired to understand enough, that she did that!

Also, last night, we were able to meet with Brandon, the less active member, and his fiance Amber, that I emailed about a few weeks ago. Her little girl got her tonsils out a week ago so it was hard to get together with them! It was our first time meeting him, and so when we knocked on his door and he opened it looking less than friendly, I thought "oh no!" but he invited us in and we talked to him and Amber and he softened. It turns out that he works right down the street from where the church is-- he passes it every day! They said they would try to come this week, and we set up an appointment with them for next Sunday to begin teaching them after church. This family needs the gospel, and I know the Lord has been preparing them!

One of my zone leaders, Elder Upton, has taken to calling me 'Ringleader' because he says that whenever there is a gathering of missionaries, I'm always the one heading it up-- I thought that was a much nicer title than the one my sister gave me a few years ago: "Little Mao" (as in the communist China dictator...) I just like making things happen! Today we're getting together for a spring festival to play sports outside... I'm excited!

I am so grateful for this wonderful gospel of Jesus Christ. It is amazing and it blesses individuals and life. I am so grateful for the Atonement and what it means for each of us-- it means that we are able to return to live with our Father in Heaven again if we try our best to overcome our weaknesses and work to be forgiven of our sins. The Atonement is the most important thing to happen in the whole world. Ever! It is wonderful!

I love you so so so much-- be happy. The gospel is true!

Love,
Sister Chelsea LeSueur

They are seeking to be great and good and wise.

2011-03-14T11:40:00.000-05:00

Dearest family,

What a wonderful time to be alive. Spring is just around the corner, it stays light 'till about 8:00 now, and the gospel is true. We are a wonderfully blessed people with so many tender mercies around us-- we must take time to notice them and thank our Father in Heaven for all His love!

It's been a great week-- we spent quite a bit of time looking up former investigators and less active members here in Galion and in Shelby. There was a woman we looked up, Nikki, in Galion and we knew from the teaching record that she had only been taught once. She has a little girl and the elders wrote on the record that she was currently going through a separation from her husband. We knocked on her door and when she answered it, she had two little girls right at her feet. We explained who we are and told her that we are the new missionaries in the area and that we would love to just get to know her a little better. She told us how she has no time because she runs a daycare out of her home and has kids there all the time, both during the day and during the night. With great enthusiasm, I told her how much I admired her for that. I explained that I am going to school to become a preschool teacher and told her how much I love little ones! She softened, and invited us in. When we got inside, she told us that she was going through a rough divorce, and mentioned a few of the other difficult things going on in her life. We talked for about ten minutes and asked if there was another time when we could come back to talk more-- she told us Wednesdays are her least busy days and that between noon and 2:00 is when quiet time is... Well, this is where we really see the hand of the Lord come into play-- Usually we have district/zone meetings Wednesday mornings and we don't usually return to our area until 2:00/2:30... BUT this week, we have our mission tour where Elder C. Scott Grow of the seventy (who I saw at a devotional in the MTC) is coming to speak to us this Saturday-- so our Wednesday this week was free for Nikki! We will be going to her home again at 12:30 on Wednesday to get to know her better and have the opportunity to teach her about how the gospel can bless her life. I'm really excited for this, I know she needs it, and I know the Lord was present in helping is get to her at this specific time! He is so wonderful!

Our Relief Society lesson yesterday was on the Word of Wisdom, and I'm so grateful for this wonderful Law of Health the Lord has given us for our bodies. Truly, living this law will help us be whom the Lord knows we are capable of becoming. It keeps us free from things which will limit our abilities to serve and bless the lives of others (by refraining from drinking alcohol and other addictive substances), it helps us to know the things we must put into our bodies to keep them running right (fruits, veggies, and whole grains), and it shows the love and concern the Lord has for us. Just as parents won't let their kids eat all their Halloween candy the night they bring it home because the parents understand that too much candy brings tummy aches and cavities, out loving Heavenly father wants us to feel healthy and happy, so he advises us as to the things we should and should not take into ourselves! What a wonderful blessing!

I know our Father in Heaven lives. I know He loves us. I know Christ is our Savior and that He knows each of us personally and intimately. He wants us to come to him so he might relieve us from our struggles and pains... but we must CHOOSE faith. The gospel is true. The Book of Mormon is the word of God and it supports the Bible in testifying of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Families can be together forever :)

I love you all bunches! Go spread the gospel!

Love,
Sister Chelsea LeSueur

Let Thy enduring love guide me to Heaven above

2011-03-07T08:44:00.001-06:00

Dear family,

Well, we were experiencing lovely blue skies and temperatures in the 40s last week then Saturday it dropped back down to freezing and Sunday, we awoke to see snow on the ground again! Everyone here says, "you can't count on no more snow 'till June!" Man, oh, man, I miss March in Texas! But it was nice to have a week of reprove though-- It was kind of like Heavenly Father was smiling at us to get us through the end of the winter... Something to look forward to!

We visited an older less active sister last week, and had one of the best visits about being active in the church we've ever had. We have visited Sister Payne pretty regularly since I got here, and it isn't that she doesn't have a testimony- she just suffers from depression and is really good at coming up with excuses... well, last week we were talking about how the Lord blesses us with personal revelation through three main ways-- 1.) revelation through prayer, 2.) revelation through scripture study, and 3.) revelation though church attendance. As we discussed the importance of personal revelation and her need in particular for it, she really opened up to us and told us how she feels about different things she's struggled with-- feeling accepted by the ward in particular. Well, we told her how the friendships that we form at church are just an added bonus, but they should never be why we do or do not go. We told her how the sisters of the ward really do love her and would do anything for her (and have on several occasions) and then we talked about the love the Savior has for her, and it's His love that matters most. She talked about her love of the gospel and committed to do better. Imagine my joy, when on Sunday morning, she walked into sacrament meeting and sat by us in the seat we promised we would save for her. It was a wonderful moment, and I was so proud of her for making the first step!

Also at church yesterday, Lee blessed the sacrament. Abby Ritchey (a recent convert from Marion who moved into our area in Bucyrus on Saturday) was there with all three of her kids who had a hard time going to church in Marion, and they loved church and their primary classes! I am so grateful the Lord is blessing people with the things they need to progress spiritually. He is so mindful of us and the things we need.

This is the Lord's church. The Book of Mormon is true. Joseph Smith is the prophet called by God to restore the fullness of the gospel in these latter days. When we keep the commandments and are true to our covenants, we are blessed and happy. Our Father in Heaven loves us, Jesus Christ is our Savior, families can be together forever.

Have a really good week-- go share this wonderful gospel with those around you!

Love,
Sister Chelsea LeSueur

On we go to vanquish the foe...

2011-02-28T11:55:00.000-06:00

Hello amazing family!!

Ahh, what a great week... The snow is melting, it's 40* today, it's been downpouring for the last 12 hours and so the Olentangy river is flooding parts of our little town of Galion. No doubt this will produce some good service opportunities for Sister Vaasili and myself. The flooding river is actually quite appropriate for how I'm feeling right now. My heart is overflowing with gratitude for the good work that is going on here, the wonderful people we have the opportunity to work with in this great Clearfork ward, and for the exciting news I just received about my acceptance into BYU as a transfer student for this fall. Truly I am so blessed. I know that the Lord is in charge and he has given me the means to bless others and return to live with him eventually-- I know I am having experiences now so that I can serve and strengthen those around me for the rest of my life; I'm grateful for them... The good ones and the "refiner's fire" ones too :)

So we had a few interesting experiences this week beginning Monday when we went to Brother and Sister Rondon's home for dinner... It was snowing quite heavily so they came and picked us up from our apartment. Well fast-forward three hours and it was STILL snowing heavily and since they live out in the country a bit, are an elderly couple, and there was 8 inches of unplowed snow on the roads, it wasn't a great idea to attempt the 20 minute drive home. They said we would just have to spend the night, and after informing our mission president and receiving permission from him, we had a 'slumber party' at the Rondon's home... It was like a mini vacation at a bread and breakfast. Kind of fun!

Thursday we went to check on a member referral we had been trying to contact for a month. They live in a small town that we only make it out to about once a week, and they never seemed to be home when we were in town! Brandon is a less active member whose records we don't have in our ward and his girlfriend, Amber isn't a member. She has two darling daughters (6 and 4) and they are so dang cute! Anywho, we knocked on their door Thursday night and Amber answered the door! She invited us right in after we told her who we were and that the Anderson's from the Mansfield ward said we should come and get to know them. We sat down and spoke with her for about 30 minutes. Brandon was out of town for the weekend, but she says he faithfully reads his book of Mormon. She also told us that they are engaged to be married in May and that they are looking for a church where they will learn things as opposed to the church they are currently attending only because Brandon was volunteered by her grandpa to play the base guitar in the church band. We have an appointment with them this Thursday and I just feel like the Lord has been preparing this cute couple to join (and become active in) His church! This is evidence of the great power that exists in member missionary work! Pray about who the Lord is preparing to receive the gospel in your life and the invite them to be taught by the full-time missionaries in your home! If you want to make a friend for life, share your time-- If you want to make a friend for this life and the next, share your time and the gospel!

This gospel is so true. Jesus is the Christ; He is our savior, and it is only through Him that we will be able to return to live with our Heavenly Father. This is the true and restored gospel of Jesus Christ. The priesthood is on the earth again. We have a living prophet, even Thomas S. Monson who is the mouthpiece of the Lord today. The Book of Mormon is true. Life is good. We are to be happy and have joy.

I love you so so much.

Love,
Sister Chelsea LeSueur
Go Cougars!

Tune them with the key of love

2011-02-21T11:57:00.000-06:00

Hello all you wonderful people whom I love so much!

Thank you, thank you, thank you so much for the wonderful Valentines day paper crane notes... It made me feel so loved and reminded me how blessed I am that our family can be together forever! This was the best Valentines Day I've ever had. Truly it was a day of LOVE!

It has been an excellent week, peaking this last Saturday when Regina Parsons entered into the waters of baptism! It was a beautiful 50*, blue sky day (the highest it's been since October) and I told Regina that God gave her a beautiful day for her baptism... She said, "I know, I was praying for it!" The power of faith is real because yesterday it was back to the freezing rain, snow, and 30* weather more typical of Ohio in February-- Daddy, you said it was 80* in Dallas last week? Enjoy it! :)

Regina's baptismal service was excellent... She is moving to Mansfield in the next two weeks, so unfortunately the Clearfork ward doesn't get to keep her-- but Mansfield is just the next town over, so there are lots of ties in between the two wards, and I know she'll be well taken care of over there! Anywho, for the service we had one of the two talks and one of the two prayers be given by a member from Mansfield; there were several members there, and Regina felt well loved! She was glowing the whole weekend!

We had a neat experience earlier in the week-- Marla and Carla's mom had a heart attack and was in the hospital down in Columbus. She really loved us the three times we've met before, and asked if we would be able to come and see her. Normally we wouldn't have been able to because of how far away we are from EVERYTHING, but because of the ice storms we had the first week of this month, our new missionary/trainer meeting was rescheduled for last Tuesday and it was only about 15 minutes away from the hospital Delilah was at. We received permission to go and went to the hospital and told her how much we love her. We were only able to stay about half an hour and when we left, I 'forgot' the copy of the Book of Mormon I was carrying on the chair in her room. After we left, Marla said her mom saw it and said, "Oh no, that girl left her book here!" to which Marla replied, "Well, there must be a reason for it... are you going to read it?" and Delilah said, "Probably..." Well, I didn't really think anything else about that until Sunday when, in Relief Society, our lesson was on service and the instructor asked what service we had received in the previous week and Marla talked about how we went out of our way to see her mom and it really meant a lot, not only to Delilah, but to Marla as well. Marla also said that her mom's heart has been softened significantly towards the church because of this... so when I was complaining about all the ice earlier in the month and all the meetings that were canceled and all the days we couldn't leave the apartment.... I take it all back! Heavenly Father knows what is best and I need to trust in Him more. Because the meeting was rescheduled we were able to go to the hospital and see Delilah last week and she is being prepared to receive the gospel. Heavenly Father's plan is always the best!

We were reading the Book of Mormon last night as a companionship and we were reading 2 Nephi 4-- 'Nephi's Psalm'... I feel so much like Nephi. Why should I ever be discouraged? Why should I ever give into temptation ' that the evil one have place in my heart to destroy my peace and afflict my soul'? Why should I be angry or slacken my strength? I echo Nephi when I say, " Awake my soul, no longer droop in sin! Rejoice, o my heart, and give place no more for the enemy of my soul... O lord, wilt thou encircle me around in the robe of thy righteousness!" As I work to increase in my Christ-like attributes, I know I can become more like Nephi. He wasn't perfect over night and neither will any of us be... We must make it a constant process to become like Christ and as we work on things like patience, charity, and diligence, we too can have the faith and zeal of Nephi, Moses, and Samuel the Lamanite-- but it's a process! Let us work every day to have the faith they have!

I love this gospel-- It's true and I am so grateful for my savior, Jesus Christ. It is only through Him that we can return to live with our Father in Heaven. Families are forever, and for this knowledge I am eternally grateful! Have an excellent week <3

Love,
Sister Chelsea LeSueur

If there's sunshine in your heart...

2011-02-14T11:51:00.000-06:00

Dear family,

Happy Valentines day!

It's 38* outside and it is DELIGHTFUL! I never thought I would be so excited about temperatures in the high 30s, but here we are-- by the end of this week, we should be up to the 50s and I can't wait... I'm breaking out the short sleeve shirts and sunscreen already! Hah, just kidding, but we are very excited! Bring on the sun!

After the discouraging week last week, I went to zone conference completely drained and deflated Tuesday morning. By the end of the six hours of being fed spiritually by President Jensen, the assistants, and the zone leaders, I left feeling happy and ready to convert the world. It was a reminder to me that we must allow ourselves to be spiritually fed in order to keep going-- Increasing our testimonies is a vital part of 'enduring to the end' and sometimes that gets put on the back-burner as we spend our days feeding and increasing others' testimonies. Now, I'm not saying we should lessen how much of our time and energies we give, BUT I am saying that we need to make sure we're providing ourselves with enough oil in our own lamps so we have something to give. When I went to zone conference, It refilled my lamp with the oil I needed to continue fueling others' lamps, and it made me realize that I need to figure out a better way to study in my personal studies which will prepare me for the lessons we have coming up AND give me the spiritual strength I need. Any thoughts would be so greatly appreciated!

Regina has been taught all the lessons and been interviewer in preparation for her upcoming baptism this Saturday! She and her husband are moving to Mansfield right after the baptism, so after this week, she'll be attending that ward, but I know the ward will do a great job of fellow-shipping her. Because of this sudden transition, we are having 0ne of the talks and one of the prayers and the pianist come from Mansfield-- the other things will be done by members she already knows from the Clearfork ward. Hopefully she will understand how much she is loved in both places and will feel double the support! She's wonderful and we're praying that her husband's heart might be softened and that he will be open to receiving the gospel in his life so they can become a forever family. Please keep Regina and James Parsons in your prayers :)

By the way-- Carla will be speaking on the holy ghost, and Lee will be baptizing Regina. I love seeing recent converts progress and serve! Ooh, and Marla was just sustained and set apart as the new visiting teaching supervisor-- They're doing well :)

I love this gospel. I love my Savior and my Heavenly Father. I love the chance we can bring about in our lives through repentance. I love that the love of a family can last forever and be deepened and increased through the plan of salvation and temple covenants. I love the temple. I love missionary work, and I love you! Have a wonderful week <3

Love, Sister Chelsea LeSueur

Teach me, Lord, to be a shepherd; Father, help me feed thy sheep

2011-02-07T12:40:00.000-06:00

Hello sweet family,

Well, it's been quite the week here in the Ohio Columbus Mission-- one that I'm quite glad is over! Between being snowed in, sick, finding a GREY hair, and driving (or rather, sliding) on ice... I am learning (and experiencing) first hand that "there must needs be opposition in all things". We must be snowed in to appreciate going out, we need sickness every so often to help us realize how blessed we are to have good health. I guess a grey hair is the Lord's way of helping me focus on... well, I'm still trying to figure out the lesson behind that one. And as far as the ice goes, I guess it was a very humbling experience to have to call our ward mission leader while standing in the middle of an iced over Ohio cornfield as our car was lodged into three inches of ice. Yes, lessons are being learned, attitudes are being shaped, and tender mercies are found in abundance. The Lord is so aware of us and our needs, and for that I am completely grateful.
Last week, I spoke of Regina Parsons, a friend of Marla and Carla's who we were beginning to teach. This week we invited her to be baptized on February 19th, and she is so so excited. She was brought to church yesterday be some members who live not too far from her, and I hope they will be able to develop a friendship.

It was fast and testimony meeting yesterday, and about half way through the meeting, Carla stood and bore her testimony-- she spoke from the heart and talked of the great change that came about in her life when she began learning about the gospel. She said, "before I was found, I was hopeless, I had given up on so many things. But I am so grateful that I have found a church and that I know I can have a forever family." Umm... I definitely felt the overwhelming joy that is spoken of in the scriptures when you help another come unto a knowledge of the gospel. Carla has had so many terrible experiences and she is overcoming them through her knowledge of the gospel of Jesus Christ. She is glowing! Later on in the meeting Marla stood to bear her testimony and spoke of how the ward has helped her feel at home and how the gospel has changed and saved her family. She spoke to the happiness and peace that comes from the Book of Mormon, and how prayer has become such a huge priority in her life. I said a silent prayer, thanking Heavenly Father for allowing me to hear these wonderful testimonies borne by women whom I love so much.

I love this gospel. I love the change it brings about in peoples' lives. I love the Book of Mormon-- we need it as much as we need oxygen. We need to study it daily as individuals, as families, and as couples. I love my Savior, Jesus Christ-- he truly is our Redeemer, and I am eternally humbled by and grateful for His sacrifice and death on my behalf. God is love. Families are forever. Missionary work is joy.

Have a happy week :)

Love,
Sister Chelsea LeSueur

Why should we mourn or think our lot is hard? 'Tis not so. All is right...

2011-01-31T11:51:00.000-06:00

Dearest family,

What a wonderful time to be alive and sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ with our friends and neighbors. Indeed we are privileged to be on the earth at this time! I was having a discouraging moment earlier last week and out of nowhere the words above in the subject as penned by William Clayton in the great hymn 'Come, Come Ye Saints" entered my thoughts and I had the thought, "what do I have to complain about? If the pioneers could bear and bury children on the plains in the middle of winter and sing these great words in the second verse, surely my lot is anything but hard. yes, 'all is right'... so get over it!" Haha, after I had this little pep talk with myself, the rest of the week went more smoothly and I was able to recognize the discouraging and unproductive feelings I had been having as an attack from the adversary to tear me down and discourage me from engaging in the work of the Lord. He does this to all of us and we need to be aware of his tactics so we can see him for the deceiver he is. Regardless of what he will tell us, we ARE good enough, we CAN do it, and we ARE worth it. We are children of a king who has promised he will ALWAYS make us strong enough to bear our burdens and who will ALWAYS make us equal to our callings. HIS is the voice we MUST listen to.

In other news-- Carla Willoughby entered the waters of baptism last week on Saturday, received the gift of the Holy Ghost on Sunday, and is just walking on sunshine. She described the feeling on Sunday when she was being confirmed as "a tingly feeling all over and it was just like being baptized all over again!" I am so happy for her and excited for her future!

Lee Saunders was ordained into the Aaronic priesthood on Sunday in the third hour too-- he went to good will and found a white collared shirt and a black tie just for the occasion. Before church he came into the foyer with the tie undone because he realized that he didn't know hwo to tie a tie, so our ward clerk, Brother Racey, showed him how. It was great to see him in that white shirt! I know that if they will let it, this new change in their family will change them. I just love the Saunders-- We're having FHE with them tonight about the temple :)

Regina is one of the new investigators we are teaching-- she is a friend from high school of Carla and Marla's. She came to Nathan's 4th birthday party at the Saunders' home Friday night and then to the baptism on Saturday and then to church on Sunday and told us she wants to become Mormon. Hah-- wow. We taught her after church yesterday and she loves everything she hears. Her husband is very Baptist and so we'll see how the Lord works to soften his heart-- but we're excited to work with Regina!

Anywho. The gospel is true. God loves us so so much. Jesus is the Christ. Families are forever. Go be a missionary-- February Ensign First Presidency message is inspired and so so true. Read it!

Love,
Sister Chelsea LeSueur

May my heart be turned to pray

2011-01-24T13:56:00.001-06:00

Hello wonderful family,

It has been another superb week here in the Great Ohio Columbus Mission which has sped by. Holy cow, where does all the time go? Can't we just press pause or something? Well, I guess that's not a part of the plan, so I'll just be grateful for what I've been given!

Speaking of what I've been given-- I've been given an amazing new companion! Her name is Sister Seminare Vaasili from Western Samoa. She is so cute! Since this is her first area, I have the privilege of being able to introduce her to all things American-- like Taco Bell! Hah, it's awesome. She's taught me some words in Samoan and this morning she cooked us breakfast like she usually eats in Samoa-- ramen noodles, a chicken drumstick, and white rice. I'm still not hungry for lunch! She's sweet, and I know I'm supposed to be the one teaching her, but I'm learning so much more! I am very grateful for this opportunity!

Oh, and Sister Lillywhite is now in the Moundbuilders ward-- which is where I started my mission! I'm so excited she's there-- she'll be there when Nancy goes through the temple in a couple of months! She is going to do such amazing things there with Sister Whitney (my MTC companion)-- I'm excited for them!

This weekend we went to meet a member referral we received from a member in the Marion Branch. Hellen Tennar lives in Bucyrus with her son Robert who's in his mid 20s... Her best friend of 50+ years is a less active member that the Marion sisters visit frequently, and she it the one who thought her friend Hellen might like to hear the gospel. When we went to introduce ourselves to her, it was snowing. They live out in the country and have a big long unpaved, unplowed driveway. I said a little prayer and with the Lord's help, we made it up the drive. When we were talking to Hellen and Robert, Robert asked us what we were driving-- I told him it was a Toyota Corolla and he was shocked that we made it up the drive. Apparently his older brother got stuck in his truck... well, that made me nervous for getting back out. After a nice lesson and scheduling a return appointment, we said a prayer and made it safely out of the driveway. It was definitely the Lord helping us in and out of the driveway because these people need the gospel right now. So many miracles every day!

Carla Willoughby will be getting baptized this Saturday at 1:00, and I am so excited for her. She has changed so much from the first time we met her-- she even told us she took down pictures from her facebook and myspace that weren't appropriate. She recognizes more her individual worth and divine nature and I am so proud of the things she has done to change her life! She has a much brighter future in store for her now. Please pray for her this week :)

Well, the gospel is so true. The Lord blesses us with tender mercies every day. Jesus is the Christ. Families are forever. Go and do missionary work in your neck of the woods :)

Love,
Sister Chelsea LeSueur

ps-- Good luck with your wedding this weekend, Jenn... Have fun being married! You're in my prayers <3

My weakness, in mercy, He covers with power

2011-01-17T11:57:00.001-06:00

Hello my wonderful family,

Sister LeSueur here, reporting from the freezing and frigid very very north of the Ohio Columbus Mission where miracles are happening despite the temperatures in the single digits! It has been an absolutely excellent week-- Our zone leaders, Elder Upton and Elder Tanner dubbed this last week 'Standards Week', a week where there was a special focus and push on each area reaching the mission standard for the key indicator numbers we report each week which was set by President Jensen. These numbers include 20 lessons, three new investigators, five lessons with members present, and so on... I am happy to report that our whole zone did quite well with this challenge, and I found as we made 'the standard' (which we usually reach by coincidence) more of a focus in the forefront of our minds, we were more able to notice the Lord's hand in helping us get there!

One of those miracles occurred Tuesday night. We had been in Columbus all day for a specialized training zone conference (which was incredible, by the way!) and on our way home, we were debating about visiting a less active member whom we have been trying to get into contact with for the last several weeks before or after our 7:00 appointment. We kind of felt like we needed to go before, but I wanted to run home and change my shoes, but we decided to go ahead and try to see Shannon. We knocked on her door and she wasn't home... As we were getting back in our car, we noticed a woman across the street shoveling her driveway (it had been snowing all day) and so we went to see if we could finish shoveling it for her-- we got to talking, her name is Marion, she's retired and a widow, and it turns out her sister has been a member of the church for 20 years. Marion noted how her sister's faith has gotten her through a lot of rough patches in her life and she was really quick to say yes when we asked if we could come back the next day to teach her more about the Book of Mormon. If we hadn't followed the promptings to go see Shannon before our 7:00 appointment, we wouldn't have met Marion, and I feel like the Lord has been totally preparing her. The next day, we had a wonderful first part of lesson one. She's great and I love how the Lord works in our lives!

Another miracle the Lord has worked this last week is the way he has prepared Carla to enter into the waters of baptism. We had a great second lesson on the Plan of Salvation Wednesday and at the end we asked her if she would prepare to be baptized on the 29th of January and she was excited and said, "yes!" She then went on to tell us that when she first agreed to meet with us, she did it just because we were nice, but the more she has read the Book of Mormon and prayed and come to church, the more she KNOWS it's true. She is so much happier where as before she was depressed-- she hated people and was really downtrodden by all the pain in the world. Now, she has faith and hope and the light of Christ shines through her! She's getting baptized a week from Saturday and I couldn't be happier! Also, Marla and Carla's nephew Tony has stayed the weekend with them and he has sat in on our lessons and he and his girlfriend came to church Sunday and LOVED it. He's going to be next :)

The work is going so well. Transfers are this week and Sister Lillywhite is leaving me-- but it will be so good for her to have a new area and love a new ward and learn from a new sister... I'll be staying here in Clearfork and I'm getting a brand new missionary straight from the MTC. I'm excited to train in an area where I'm not being doubled into... That hasn't happened before!! I know that the Lord will be with me as I work to overcome my weaknesses so that she will have the training experiences she needs. I'm excited for this transfer and I'm excited to be a missionary. It is the greatest! The gospel is true and I love my Savior and I am so grateful for him and the Atonement which allows me to overcome all the pain, struggles, and sorrows I will ever experience. The Book of Mormon is the word of God-- we need to want it like we want oxygen. I love you guys-- have a fabulous week, and please keep Carla in your prayers!

Love, Sister Chelsea LeSueur

Patient, firm, and persevering, God speed the right

2011-01-10T12:00:00.001-06:00

Dear family,

Last week is over-- thank goodness. It was quite a week. It felt like 75% of all our appointments bailed on us, no one was home-- ever, and then there was more drama than there ever should be at church yesterday. So, when I said my prayers last night, I thanked Heavenly Father for all the learning experiences and opportunities to develop patience last week and kindly asked for this week to be a little less intense in the learning opportunities! Hah, just kidding-- but I am happy for this new week!

We had a wonderful experience teaching Shirley Hancock last week-- we met Shirley at the beginning of December in the craft section of the Bucyrus Walmart, and in the busy isles of Walmart, we got to talking about her trip to Jerusalem and this book she has been reading about how Christ came to the Americas and all the different legends from the various native tribes who tell the same story. After she told her about her book, I thought, "Have we got a book for you!" and we proceeded to tell her about the Book of Mormon. She was super excited and we left her with a copy and got her phone number to set up an appointment with her-- well we tried and tried for the better part of December to get a hold of her-- after January came, we were back in that Walmart and we looked for her and low and behold, there she was! Turns out she was ALWAYS working in December... like all day every day and apologized for not calling us back. We set up an appointment with her for this last week and when we went we were really pleasantly surprised to hear about her beliefs about how we all have Heavenly names, how we lived with God before we came to earth, and how we have the potential to become like Him. She was incredibly touched by Joseph Smith's first vision, and she agreed to read the Book of Mormon now that she isn't working so much and is excited to pray to know of its truthfulness. The spirit was so strong during this lesson and I'm really excited for and about her!

We also got into contact with some former investigators, Rusty and Valorie Williams. He is crazy busy with work as an electrician and she has health problems. They have had some really wonderful spiritual experiences and I think they know the gospel is true more than they realize. We had a really wonderful discussion about how doubts come from the adversary, and how the feelings that come from the Lord are only peaceful, even when He's telling us no. In 1 John, we read that "perfect love casteth out all fear"... and right now, they are caught up in their fearful doubts. They made some wonderful connections with the ward when they were actively meeting with the missionaries, and they had nothing but good things to say about the wonderful Clearfork Ward--- There's no doubt in my mind that they will soon become members, thy just need to realize this is the most important thing in the world and realign their priorities. I'm hopeful!

Missionary work (on both sides of the veil) is the most important thing any of us can do-- it takes on many forms: being a good example, having a copy of the Book of Mormon out and visible for all to see, talking about gospel related things with friends and neighbors, etc-- Go and do, and God will bless you!

LOVE,
Sister Chelsea LeSueur
xoxox

...to rescue a soul so rebellious and proud as mine

2011-01-03T11:58:00.001-06:00

Dearest family,

Happy 2011! I hope you all are looking forward to this new year, thinking and planning for all the wonderful changes this year can bring if we let it... Let us all look inward and reflect on the little 'weapons' we can bury (see Alma 24:17-19)-- let us not 'procrastinate the day of [our] repentance'-- all those little things which are keeping us from a full and joyful relationship with the Lord, lets get rid of them and determine that each day we are going to be closer to the Lord than the day before. After all, there is no standstill in our testimonies. They are always either increasing or decreasing... What are you doing TODAY to increase your testimony?

I have had some really wonderful personal studies in the last week-- one of which was when I was reading in the begininng of the Book of Mormon. In 1 Nephi 9, Nephi is telling about the second record he is beginning to keep because he has been commanded of the Lord to do so. We know that the 116 pages of the translated manuscript of the Book of Mormon that was lost was the Book of Lehi and contained more of a secular history of Lehi's family and journeyings in the wilderness. The book of 1 Nephi contains more of a record of the spiritual things, because that's what the Lord told Nephi to do. Heavenly Father, 2,400 years before part of the manuscript was lost, prepared a way for us to still have the doctrine and knowledge we would need to learn, understand, and apply the doctrine of Christ in our lives. One day we will receive the Book of Lehi when we are obedient enough for it-- until then, we have what we need because the Lord prepared a way for us to have it. Amazing.

When studying the story of Korihor and Alma, I was struck by the evidence Alma offers Korihor in Alma 30:44 as to the reality of God when Korihor asks Alma for a sign that God exists. Alma points out that the scriptures, prophets, the earth and all things in it, the planets all witness that there is a supreme creator. God gives us evidence everywhere as to his divinity and omnipotence, but if we don't have faith to begin with, we will explain it away and consider it to be a things of naught-- just like Korihor did. It wasn't until Korihor was stuck dumb that he realized he had been deceived by the devil who pretended to be an angel of light. Korihor was deceived, and so he preached things he knew to be wrong until he believed them... but when he realized his error and was struck dumb, do you think the adversary whose bidding he was doing stood by him? No! He was 'trodden down even until he was dead'... The devil will not support those who follow him. What a powerful example of why we want to be on the Lord's side!

Family, the gospel is true. We have this knowledge and so we are charged with the responsibility to sound the trumpets and declare it to all our friends and neighbors. We will be blessed for all the missionary moments we take advantage of, and held accountable for all those we ignore. Homework assignment-- Study Abinadi's words in Mosiah 15-17. He sets forth the doctrine so clearly of the Atonement, the resurrection, and being on the Lord's side-- go be a missionary and you will be on the Lord's side!

I love you!

Love, Sister Chelsea LeSueur

Faithful and true, we will ever stand...

2010-12-27T11:46:00.001-06:00

Hello family and friends!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, and that you were able to spend some time reflecting on our Savior and His birth and the true meaning of Christmas!

It was a white Christmas up here in Galion-- There was snow on the ground AND the Saunders were dressed in white baptismal suits on Christmas eve for their baptismal service! It was a beautiful service, and Lee and Marla were just glowing that whole day!

When we called one of the members in the ward to invite them to the baptism, she said, "Christmas Eve, that's a terrible day to do this... We can't come. I have to get ready for my family to come over." Well, I told her, that we didn't plan it, the Lord did, and we were just following what he told us. Then I was thinking about it, and what better thing could you be doing on CHRISTmas eve than make covenants with Christ-- the one who's birth we are celebrating! Even though this particular member didn't come, we had a wonderful turn out, and I feel so privileged to be able to work with the wonderful members of this ward. They are all so good to each other and I have no worries about the Saunders' being fellowshipped!

We had a wonderful experience last week when we were getting some lunch at a little hamburger diner. Our waitress was Judy and she asked about our name tags-- we told her who we were and why we were here in Galion. She told us a little about herself and how her husband was laid off and how they didn't have enough money for a tree thus year... We talked about how she was disillusioned by the church she grew up attending/raised her children in, and then we talked about the Book of Mormon. We gave her a copy and she agreed to read it. When we left, I just couldn't stop thinking about how she didn't have a tree-- this just wouldn't do. So we ran home when we had a break in our schedule and put the little three-foot tree mama sent me back in the box it came in. We drove back to the diner and gave Judy the tree, explaining that it wasn't much, but she could at least have a little tree up this year and for every year in the future where money was a little tight. She began crying and told us that we made her Christmas. She also told us how she had been ducking into the back all day long to read "that book" we left her with... It was a wonderful Christmas experience and just another piece of evidence how our Heavenly Father is constantly preparing everyone around us to eventually receive the fullness of His gospel-- we need to pray to have the eyes to see and the ears to hear the missionary opportunities placed in front of us on a daily basis. I know that if you do this, you will be more aware of those around you who are being prepared to receive the gospel of Jesus Christ!

I am so grateful for this wonderful gospel and for the opportunity I have to be here in the Ohio to share it with my brothers and sisters. I know that Jesus is the Christ. I know He lives. I know our Heavenly Father loves us much more than we can comprehend and that we love him much more than we can remember. I know that families can be together forever, through Heavenly Father's plan. I know that the priesthood is on the earth, and that we are blessed by it and miracles are wrought by it every day. I love the Book of Mormon, it truly is the word of God. I know we have a living prophet on the earth today, and his name is Thomas S. Monson. He is the mouthpiece for God and we must listen to the words he is making known to us. The gospel is SO true, and everything that is good in my life comes from this wonderful gospel.

I love you all-- happy 2011 almost. Go out and be missionaries!

Love,
Sister Chelsea LeSueur

The wrong shall fail, the right prevail, with peace on earth, good will to men!

2010-12-20T11:52:00.000-06:00

Hello all you wonderful people! Merry Christmas!

I want to tell you this week about a Christmas miracle that happened this weekend with the Saunders--

This whole last week the Marla and her three little boys, Nathan, Eric, and Elijah have been sick. They went home after church last week and something hit them like a ton of bricks. I was frustrated because we had to cancel all our appointments with them last week-- I felt like the adversary was trying to keep this family from the waters of baptism through physical sickness. Friday when they were all sort of on the mend, we went over there with Bishop Andrews to review everything we had taught so far. We spent quite some time talking about the priesthood and how it is the power and authority God gives to man to act in His name. Bishop talked about how being a priesthood holder has strongly blessed his family and the privilege it is to be able to bestow blessings upon his children. We reaffirmed with them that they still have a desire to be baptized this Friday and they said yes-- of course! Marla told us about how the day we knocked on her door (less than a month ago) she was looking for an excuse to quit smoking and we gave her one! She quit smoking and they quit drinking coffee (unbeknownst to us) without us having to ask! We knew the coffee was in the home, but we had no idea she smoked. She went from a pack a day to none and she hasn't smoked for a week now!She also began crying as she talked about the difference the gospel of Jesus Christ has made in their family. She and Lee are working through marriage difficulties, they are both more patient with the boys, and those little boys are learning how to be reverent. The spirit was palpable as she spoke-- The gospel truly does bless families! After the lesson, we made plans to meet Saturday at 2:30 and left.

2:30 Saturday comes and we knock on their door. Marla's sister Carla answered the door and told us they had to take the baby, Eli, to the ER. He had a fever of 102 and was having a hard time breathing. She told us which hospital they were at and we headed over to meet them there. When we got there, the poor little guy could hardly move, and was covered in red splotches. We reminded them about the priesthood we were talking about the night before and asked them if they would like Eli to receive a priesthood blessing. They jumped on that, and within minutes, we were on the phone with Bishop and we had arranged for him and his first counselor, Brother Miller, to meet us at the Saunders' home after the ER at about 4:30, just before the ward Christmas party. The doctor came and wrote a prescription and said he had bronchitis, a viral infection, and an ear infection and sent them home. When Bishop Andrew and Brother Miller came, they explained a little more about priesthood blessings and Lee asked if they could bless the other boys too (they were getting worse at this point, not better). Of course the answer was yes. After the blessings, the boys slept, Eli was visibly breathing better and his fever broke, we taught a short lesson on the Word of Wisdom and The Sabbath day, left and went to the Christmas party.

Sunday morning, this cute little family, all dressed up, came to church, and not one of those boys were sick. Marla and Lee were so quick to point out that it was the Lord who made it all happen and because they are all feeling better, we are able to catch up in teaching them! Truly, it is a Christmas miracle performed by the power of the Priesthood-- and this miracle will be completed when Lee and Marla are baptized at 1:00 Friday December 24th. The gospel is true and so incredibly wonderful! I can just see them being sealed together as a family in a year, and in 15, 14, and 13 years, thole little boys won't be so little anymore. They'll be big and they'll be serving missions of their own... then they'll be married in the temple, and I'll be there all along the way :)
Please keep them in your prayers this week as they continue to prepare to be baptized! We're having Family Home Evening with them tonight to teach them how to do it-- I'm so pumped... I LOVE FHE!

This time of year is wonderful and filled with blessings and miracles. Enjoy it. Celebrate Christ's birth. He truly lives and loves us. I am so grateful for this wonderful truth! Hosanna!

Merry Christmas!

I'll TALK to you guys in FIVE days-- probably around 1230/100 Ohio time-- Can't wait :)

God will force no man to Heaven...

2010-12-13T11:52:00.000-06:00

Dearest, wonderfullest, most excellent family,

It's 12* outside, but the light of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ keeps me warm!! We have had quite the snow storm the last 30 hours... It started snowing at about 7:00 yesterday morning and snowed all during the day. After sacrament meeting, they sent everyone home because of the winter weather advisory we were under-- well, everyone except those in the choir practice and tithing settlement :)-- When we finally slipped and slided our way home, we got a phone call telling us we were 'grounded' and not a lowed to drive. Fine by me- It's scary driving over snow! Haha, however, a missionary apartment isn't the most entertaining place to spend your time being snowed in. We napped, played a rousing game of Stratego, wrote Christmas cards, ate dinner, and studied. Not too bad-- but I was definitely happy when the 'grounding' was lifted today!

So, Jeff isn't getting baptized on the 24th-- he just couldn't quit smoking in time. I think he's holding onto his cigarettes as an excuse to not get baptized yet. I think he only half wants it-- and like the hymn says, "God will force no man to heaven". He has to want it and work hard to get it. He needs to be truly converted and he just isn't quite there yet.

BUT-- we prayed about a date to extend to the Saunders and the 24th of December is the date Heavenly Father told us to have them work towards. They were excited about that and they are making such HUGE strides as a family. I just know Heavenly Father has big plans in store for them! Marla and Lee told us they hardly fight at all anymore and those sweet little boys now fold their arms, close their eyes, and say "amen" when we pray! The gospel of Jesus Christ truly DOES bless families! They want the blessings and are willing to work for them!

I love this gospel. I love being a missionary. I love my Savior, Jesus Christ. The gospel is true and families are FOREVER! <3

Merry Christmas---12 days :)

Happy Birthday tomorrow, Daddy. LOVE YOU!

Love,
Sister Chelsea LeSueur

The world in solemn stillness lay to hear the angels sing...

2010-12-06T11:57:00.000-06:00

Dear family,

What an amazing time to be alive-- especially during the cheery days of this Christmas season! I just love all the love that is being expressed between neighbors and strangers alike at this time of year. Certainly people are at their best right now and certainly this should inspire us to be at our best! Let us not get caught up in the "stuff" that is so abundantly present everywhere we look. Let us remember our Savior, Jesus Christ, through whom we can be cleansed from all sin and healed from all pain. In these days leading up to the commemoration of His birth, let us be filled with and express the love that He so freely gives us. Les this season be a time of covenant-keeping as we comfort those that stand in need of comfort, mourn with those who mourn, lift the hands of those who hang down, and remember Him always as we are more obedient to the commandments He's given us. How grateful I am for those commandments, for they truly are a source of happiness... He wants us to be happy-- we just need to come unto Him and do what he has asked us to do! He knows us, He loves us, and He hears our prayers... Let us be sure of that this season, and let us help others know this wonderful good news too. There is no better gift you could give to anyone than the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Truly, that is the 'reason for the season'. I just love this time of year!

So, speaking of Christmas-- we had sort of a Christmas miracle yesterday at church. Brenda and Tyson came to church and felt the spirit strongly. Marla and Lee and their three little guys game to church and Heavenly Father answered our prayers and helped their little boy wiggles stay REALLY calm during sacrament meeting and then they had a blast in nursery! Jeff was sick, so he wasn't there, BUT three of our members brought people who are interested in hearing more about the gospel to church yesterday.

Brother Minner, an elderly recent convert of two years, brought Becca to church-- Becca is an architect drafter who just moved into our area and brings B. Minner his meals on wheels. When he asked her to come to church with him, she accepted and she was very welcomed and fit right in! Brother Hawk brought the Vanbuskirks to church-- he works with the dad and is good friends with the rest of the family as well. They have a daughter who turns 12 on Christmas and she was a little nervous to go to YW yesterday, so she had gospel principles with us and her mom and then came to RS with us too. It was perfect because the YW were in RS for the beginning and they got to hear the YW theme which, I think, was the perfect introduction for them!

One of our young men brought his best friend to church, and it just so happened that we were over at their home Saturday night for dinner... Imagine our surprise when on Sunday morning, Alejandro (the member) and Gabe (the nonmember) came up to us and Gabe told us his mom said he could come to church every week and then asked us what he had to do to become a member... Ahh! It was really neat. Then after church, Gabe and Alejandro came and practiced for the Christmas Cantata with the choir. We told Gabe to invite his parents to church on the 19th so they could come and feel the spirit. We plan on teaching their whole family.

So many tender mercies from the Lord! He knows us and loves us and is so aware of us and our needs :)

The gospel is true. Christ lives. The gospel has been restored!

I LOVE YOU!

Love,
Sister Chelsea LeSueur

Out in the desert they wander, hungry, and helpless, and cold...

2010-11-29T11:55:00.000-06:00

Dearest fabulous family,

I hope your Thanksgiving was wonderful and that you are all reflecting on the many blessings our Father in Heaven has been bestowing upon you. Remember, it isn't a blessing unless you notice! So, cultivate within your hearts an attitude of gratitude and take time so see all the wonderful blessings around you!

We had a way neat experience Saturday... We were looking up former investigators and we had two we wanted to look up on South Union Street here in Galion and the one had moved and a less active member now lives there and the other house number didn't exist. Well, we were about to get into the car and keep looking up other formers when I felt the strongest impression that we needed to knock on doors on that street... So we did. It was 20* outside and the first door was an argumentative man, but the second door the lady answered and right away said, "It's freezing out there! Come on in!" so in we walked and we introduced ourselves to her and she introduced us to her husband and three little boys ages 3, 2, and 1. We talked about the Book of Mormon and how the gospel of Jesus Christ blesses families between excited show-and-tells from the 2 and 3 year olds... They listened and when we asked them if they would like to learn more, they said that they are willing to listen to anything which will lessen the tension in their home. When we invited them to church, they gladly accepted the invitation and ACTUALLY CAME Sunday morning! All three hours were perfectly suited to their needs, and I KNOW Heavenly Father planned everything out to help these little sheep of His come into His fold. I am excited to continue working with Lee, Marla, and their little ones. I know the gospel WILL bless their family, and I am so grateful that we listened to that prompting to knock on doors on that very cold day! Surely Heavenly Father is aware of all of us and our needs and if we are obedient, we can be the answer to someone's prayers!

Ooh! And, Jeff Boyd accepted a baptismal date of December 24th. He's quitting smoking by the 3rd to be smoke-free for three weeks-- that's his one hang up. When he is baptized Christmas Eve this year, his family can be sealed together the day after Christmas next year. I can't think of a better Christmas present in all the world :)

I love you all so much and I know the gospel is true!

26 days 'till Christmas <3

Love, Sister Chelsea LeSueur

Oh there's sunshine, blessed sunshine, when the peaceful happy moments roll!

2010-11-23T17:00:00.000-06:00

Dear wonderful family,

I love life. It was a beautiful sunshiney day on this, the 23rd of November. Heavenly Father loves me!

Thank you so much to all of you who have sent me birthday greetings-- I've felt an abundance of love this last week with all the mail that has come my way... Can it be my birthday every week? ;)

Just kidding-- we've been teaching the Plan of Salvation a lot this last week, so I know perfectly well that if it was my birthday EVERY week, it wouldn't be as cool. "There must needs be opposition in all things"! I get it-- but it has been nice, so thank you. Really, thank you :)

I went to send Cam a birthday present this last week and the only tape I had was duct tape to keep the brown paper package together... When I got to the post office, the lady looked at me funny then said, "next time you send a package, try not to use duct tape..." When I asked her why, she said, duct tape is the preferred tape of bombers. Haha-- that's me. The missionary mail bomber. Ha, it made me laugh. Don't worry, Cam, it won't explode upon opening. Scout's honor! :)

New awesomeness this week includes Jeff Boyd asking us about the logistics of being baptized and the epiphany he had that he doesn't have to be perfect to be baptized... HUGE developments with him this week and we're going over there tonight to teach him more about the gospel of Jesus Christ. He is SO CLOSE! Pray for him?

Brenda and Tyson are struggling right now. They have amazing experiences and then question them-- it is heart-wrenching to watch! I can only imagine how Heavenly Father feels when we vacillate between righteous and unrighteous choices.

Really neat experience Sunday when our 12-year-old recent convert, who was baptized right before Sister Lillywhite and I got here, was ordained into the Aaronic priesthood this last Sunday and his dad came for the ordination! He really enjoyed church, and sat in on Xavier's recent convert lesson which just happened to be on the Plan of Salvation which just happened to be PERFECT for what he needed. We gave Xavier a family proclamation and asked if he would read it with his family and HIS DAD, Joe, said they would! That was so amazing to hear. After the lesson, Sister Lillywhite and I were comparing notes, and as we were teaching them, we BOTH could picture Joe in white getting baptized. It'll happen :)

I love being a missionary. The gospel is so true. Jesus is the Christ. Families are forever.

Go be a missionary in your corner of the world <3

Love,
Sister Chelsea-a-Lynn LeSueur

I believe in Christ, so come what may...

2010-11-15T10:51:00.000-06:00

Wow, dear family, it has been an amazing week here in the great OCM!

It all started Monday with an amazing lesson with Jeff Boyd where we invited him to pray daily, even if it is just to say, ''hi''. We had the former bishop and his wife, the Goodwins, with us, and they were the perfect people for the lesson. Before Bishop Goodwin was a member he had lived a little riotously and he helped Jeff understand how the Atonement can change people. It was an amazing lesson, but with so many people who love talking (and lots of good things to talk about) we left a little later than we had hoped and didn't get home 'till 915. Well, now let's rewind to the night before, Sunday. Sister Lillywhite had left the dome light on in our car without realizing it. So, when we got a knock on our door at about 1010, we weren't quite sure what to suspect. It was our neighbor from the building by where we park and he told us about our lit light. We thanked him, he said, "no problem, the boys used to do it all the time..." and took care of the light and when we came back into our apartment, I felt the strongest impression that we needed to teach him the gospel. I told Sister Lillywhite this and we were in agreement. So, now fast-forward to Monday night at 915 when we pulled into the parking lot, there was our neighbor, standing outside smoking. I have never been so glad to see someone smoke in all my life! We went and talked to him, and in so doing, found out that he wants to get married and have a family but there "just aren't any girls with morals anymore". We also found out that the way the country is operating now makes him nervous. He told us how he has been watching Glen Beck and totally agrees with much of what he says. Then he said, "I've actually been looking into his religion... do you know anything about mormons?"

AHHHH!!! YES!!! Thank you Glen Beck! We talked about how hope and faith in God allows us to do good things which will make the world a better place (Ether 12:4) then we asked him if we left him with a copy of the Book of Mormon if he would read it. He said, "Yes, I've actually been online looking at religion and where I could find one of these". There's no doubt in my mind that he has been prepared by a loving Heavenly Father to receive the gospel of Jesus Christ-- part of his preparation was all these missionaries who absent-mindedly leave the car light on!

This weekend we had stake conference in which the choir sang 'I Believe in Christ' arranged by Mac Wilburg. It was the most powerful rendition I have heard of the hymn I have ever heard... I got chills when they sang, "I Believe in Christ, so come what may... With Him I'll stand at that great day." As tears welled up in my eyes, I realized that no matter what happens, as long as I believe in Christ and let my actions show it, everything will be alright. I believe in Christ, so come what may...I am so grateful for our Savior who knows how to love us and take care of us perfectly. The Atonement is real and we must understand how it applies to us and the change it can bring about in our lives. I believe in Christ!!

I love you guys so much... Next preparation day we're taking on Tuesday instead of Monday... Tuesday just happens to be my birthday (23 on the 23rd) and we're going to the temple. I can't think of any better way to spend my birthday than in the service of the Lord serving my brothers and sisters beyond the veil. It will be marvelous :)

Have a great week-- smile, the gospel is true!!

Love,
Sister Chelsea Lynn LeSueur

Zion readies us to see the Savior come again

2010-11-08T12:49:00.000-06:00

Dear mi familia,

Another wonderful week has passed here in the great Ohio Columbus mission-- It seems like I turn around once and already it's a new week. Can we please slow down! I don't appreciate time passing so quickly!!

SUPER exciting news-- Brenda and Tyson came to church yesterday!! They felt the spirit intensely, and we're still working towards the 27th of November for a baptism- we had a lesson with them Friday afternoon and Tyson received a blessing to help him with his Word of Wisdom struggles and we told them that they can't be hot and cold anymore. They're either progressing towards making baptismal covenants or they're not. They're either on the Lord's side or they're not. There is no grey area in the Lord's kingdom. They agreed and have been on fire ever since! We're meeting with them tomorrow night and then they'll be coming to the Book of Mormon class we teach Wednesday night... We'll meet with them Saturday after we return from our sister's sleepover at the mission home and then they'll be able to be fed spiritually at Stake conference on Sunday! I know the Lord loves them and if I do my job right, they will show the Lord how much they love Him back!

We also had an amazing opportunity to talk to a less active sister who wants to come back to church... There is so much rescuing to be done. Sometimes we need to be creative in how we do it, but it must be done and it it priceless work.

It is amazing to me how willing the members here are to help out each other. There are no 'clicks' really in our ward-- its nice! The members are also so willing to come help us teach or provide us with anything else we may need. It occurs to me that this is what Zion is. Zion is unity and being of one purpose. Our purpose is to prepare each other to see the Savior again and I am so grateful I have the opportunity to see Zion in action!

The gospel is true. Being a missionary is amazing. Go and do some missionary work in your corner of the world <3

Love, Sister Chelsea LeSueur

I know that my Savior loves me...

2010-11-01T13:42:00.000-05:00

Dearest Family,

Happy November and happy month of Cam, Beau, Sister Lillywhite, Sister Lewis, Bethany, and my birthdays-- and a whole lot of other cool people too! Wow, I can't believe November is here. 22 days 'till my birthday :)

Yesterday was the primary program, and our cute little primary of about 20 kids sang touching songs about the theme (which is also the new song this year) "I know that my Savior loves me". They did a phenomenal job and I had to laugh as I watched the overly-enthused 4 and 5 year-olds and the 11 year-olds who looked like they were about to keel over and die of embarrassment . The best thing about the whole day/ordeal? Jeff Boyd, one of our investigators was there with his wife and kids who are members, and I KNOW he felt the spirit bear witness to him that his Savior loves HIM. He has been struggling to understand just how infinite and eternal the Atonement of Jesus Christ actually is... What better way for him to learn than from the simple and completely true gospel principles taught through the primary songs. I love primary songs and I am so grateful to my mama for instilling this love in me! Thanks Mom!

It really has been a wonderful week here in Galion. We're beginning to get our bearings-- the GPS has been an invaluable tool (once again-- thanks Daddy!) and we have been able to meet some great people. There are a ton of less active members on the ward roster, and so we have been trying to systematically visit them all and assess their needs. It is difficult with how HUGE our ward boundaries are to see everyone and mesh schedules, so we're still looking for a system that works for us. Another thing we're finding is EVERYONE here works during the day it seems-- this hasn't been the case in either of my other areas, and so we're working on adapting to these new challenges we're finding! Any ideas? Email me :)

We had an interesting experience when we had dinner at Sister Weidinger's home on Saturday night. Her daughters (who are both members) were both there with their kids (and grandkids) and so was her son-in-law who is not a member of the church. He was a nice guy until the subject of religion was brought up and then he became very contentious and argumentative. He talked of the lack of 'evidence' surrounding our faith in the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith and because he is relatively well-read in the Bible he feels that he knows everything he needs to in order to get into Heaven and in order to know that we are wrong in our faith. Things between him and his sister-in-law were getting heated when Sister Lillywhite said, 'whether you read the Bible or the Book of Mormon, Christ tells us that contention is not of Him... I feel like there is a lot of contention right now, and I think we shouldn't talk anymore about Him like this." It was perfect and exactly what needed to be said and I was so proud of her. After sharing a scripture, we left and the spirit was beginning to come back into the home. When we were in the car, I felt this overwhelming sadness for him because his heart has been hardened and he won't believe until Christ Himself reveals the truth to him... and even then, I wonder if it will be enough... It also dawned on me that I want my family and extended family to share in the knowledge of the truthfulness of the gospel. I am grateful for the opportunity Heavenly Father has given me to strengthen my foundation so I will be worthy of a man who has an equally strong foundation so that "when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds... it shall have no power to drag [me] down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which [we have] built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if [we] build [we] cannot fall." (Helaman 5:12) How grateful I am that I have been given this opportunity-- and to think that I came so close to missing out on it. God's plan for each of us is perfect, even if it includes something we never thought we would do... like serve a mission!

I love this gospel. It is true. I love my Savior. He lives and he loves me. I love my family. We can be together forever as we keep the commandments. I love being a missionary. It is the greatest thing I have ever done-- Go share the gospel with those around you. You will be blessed and they will be blessed immeasurably. Be happy-- The gospel is true <3

LOVE YOU TONS,
Sister Chelsea LeSueur

...And pray for strength that we may say, as He, "Thy will O Lord be done."

2010-10-25T11:45:00.000-05:00

Well, "The time has come,"President Jensen Said, "to transfer you again."
"You'll be doubled in to whitewash an area, and be prepared to train!"
"What?" I cried! "Doubled in again? But I just got here and I don't want to go! What will happen to those I've grown so much to love!? And surely there are so many more qualified to train a new missionary than I. Nevertheless, If this be the Lord's will, Here I come..."

And here I am. Galion, Ohio in the Columbus North stake with the amazing Sister Kelly Lillywhite from Salt Lake City, Utah. I love it here. Hah, I'm in another mushroom hut like I was in Moundbuilders-- but the tossing and turning I was doing Wednesday night before transfers was all in vain. The amazing Elders Conley and Hepworth cleaned that apartment up really well-- Mad props to them. I think a question I will ask my future spouse will be what shape his missionary apartments were in... But I don't even have to think about that for a really long time! :)

So, Sister Lillywhite is going to be a preschool teacher, was a theatre major, loves music, her birthday is 11 days before mine (Nov 12th) and is a HAPPY person! I am SO excited for this transfer!

Galion is a tiny town and our ward has huge boundaries with only about 80 people that come regularly. Most of the ward is related to each other in one way or another, there are two active laurels to come out with us and they are both the bishop's daughters! There is definitely some good work to do here!

We have been trying to meet the members and all the current and former investigators. Friday we met Brenda and Tyson. Tyson is Brenda's 32 year old blind son. They live together and have been meeting with the missionaries for about a year. They had some huge concerns after family members showed them lots of anti literature... We sat down and explained through the spirit the doctrine behind their concerns. After they felt the spirit, we felt prompted to invite them both to be baptized on the 27th of November. Tyson LOVED the idea of being baptized near Thanksgiving and they both accepted. They still have a long way to go, but we are excited to be their guides!

Thursday night, we met with Jeff. Jeff's wife and two sons are members of the ward and he's got some big things to overcome before he will be baptized, but I think that he needs sisters... We've heard that from a lot of people-- that sisters NEED to be here right now. Well, I'm happy to oblige, and it is a nice change from Springboro where the bishop and the WML were mortified that the Lord would send them sisters. Haha, that turned out to be fine, we won them over-- but It it neat to see the contrast :)

Well, dear family, I feel so blessed to be a missionary. I feel blessed to have a testimony of the gospel. I feel blessed to have the opportunity to be with you for all eternity. Lets keep our covenants so that will happen!! Go out and find someone to lift up today-- You have the power to be an angel in someone's life :)

I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!!

Love,
Sister Chelsea LeSueur

Time flies on wings of lightning; We cannot call it back. It comes and passes forward along its onward track...

2010-10-18T11:46:00.001-05:00

Well hello all-- It has been another amazing week here in The Ohio as a servant of the Lord! How blessed I am to be a part of this great work!

Yesterday (the 17th) was the day I designated as my 9 month mark since I left home on the 27th of January and will be leaving my new home on the 7th of next July. Improve the shining moments was the opening hymn in sacrament meeting with the second verse quoted above, I felt that it was an incredibly appropriate hymn for the occasion. Wow... Time sure does fly.

As I sat in the first hour of church yesterday after greeting all the members as they arrived, I was looking around the chapel and I realized that I truly and completely love everyone who was sitting in that chapel and so many who weren't. I love this area. I love this ward. I love the members here. I love the people we're teaching... I am so filled with love. What an amazing '9 month mark' present from the Lord :)

Earlier this week when we were volunteering at the Springboro Food Pantry we met this wonderful 89-year-young woman, Louise Rugland. She has been receiving help from the food pantry and decided she would come help out before picking up her food. When she saw us, she asked us what ward we were in... When we told her, we asked her if she was also a member of the church-- she explained that she wasn't, but she took lessons from the missionaries in California years ago. She was almost baptized 'till someone she worked with who was a bishop of his ward was found to be a polygamist :-/ Hah, so we talked to her for a while and set up a time to come by and learn more about her... When we went to her house, we got to learn more about who she is and I think she will one day be baptized. She needs to work to be more secure temporally first, and we will help her with that, but when she gets more stable, the Lord and the gospel will be there!

Ahh, time is up-- but there was lots of good things that happened this week. Look for a letter coming soon!

I know the gospel is true. I know it with all my heart and mind.

I love you all so so much-- Have a really great week :)

Love, Sister Chelsea LeSueur

Hello!

2010-10-18T11:13:00.000-05:00

Hello dear family!!

Como Estas?

Today is the day we're celebrating my 9 month mark... but it's actually on the 27th. but I'm going home on the 7th. so we split the difference and decided it would be yesterday/today for p day! How's AZ/TX? Was Trev's birthday good?

The Lord has said a heartfelt song by righteous ones is prayer

2010-10-11T13:49:00.001-05:00

Hello all you wonderful people!!

I am one of the luckiest people alive because I get to share the gospel with my brothers and sisters here in The Ohio, do lots of wonderful service, and meet and serve with so many wonderful sisters in the gospel whom I have a lot to learn from. Am I not just incredibly blessed?!

It has been an amazing week which got interesting when we got a phonecall from the assistants on Tuesday night telling us we would be going on EXCHANGES with the Beaver Creek sisters the next day. Well, for some of you returned missionaries who were elders, this might not be anything special-- but for me, this is the first time in nine months I have had the blessing to learn from a temporary companion! I was thrilled! Sister Iottita came to Springboro. She's from Kidibest (spelling? a tiny island by the marshall islands) and she is so humble and gave me a good dose of humility. My goodness-- she's a canvert since 14 and the only member of her family. She has no support from her parents and she went to the MTC with a pair of flip flops and a backpack. The MTC hooked her up with clothes and suitcases... She's only been speaking English since April and she's amazing. We went tracting that night after a few appointments, and she was fearless-- people just LOVED her. It was an amazing experience. Sister Angell learned a lot from Sister Seibel in Beaver Creek, and when we got back together on Thursday, we were both rejuvenated with a lot of great ideas to implement here in Springboro and with our companionship!

On Friday we were blessed to be able to help the Leisz family dig potatoes. This might not sound like much, but we have been trying to teach this very less active family since I got here FOUR months ago. We really have been wanting to get into their home and help reactivate them and teach the dad/grandpa the missionary lessons, but there are always excuses... Finally through the over the top enthusiasm I had at the prospect of helping them dig the potatoes on their farm, Sister Leisz agreed to let us come help... So help we did, and we had some good conversations while doing so. We'll be back to help Wednesday. I have never been so grateful to be out in the dirt in 80* weather in my life! haha, Through small things are great things brought to pass.

Happy birthday this week Trev... and Happy Columbus day today!! Ohio COLUMBUS mission represent!

I love the Lord, I love this gospel, I love the scriptures, I love you guys, and I love being a missionary. Life is good :)

Have a good week and go do some good!

Love,

Sister Chelsea LeSueur

Priests of heaven's royal line bear the keys of truth devine!

2010-10-04T12:09:00.000-05:00

Wow Wow Wow... What an amazing weekend we've had. After listening to/reading the conference talks, is there any question that Heavenly Father knows us, loves us, and guides us today? We are so incredibly blessed to be a part of this last dispensation with living prophets and apostles to guide us through these perilous times. I know that Thomas S. Monson is indeed a prophet of the lord, just as Adam, Noah, and Moses are prophets of the Lord. I know we can be happy and eternally blessed when we keep the commandments He has given us for our protection. I know that it is when we have an attitude of gratitude that we can feel more deeply of God's love for us. The gospel is true!! Yes, The gospel is true!

Earlier in the week we had a really wonderful experience volunteering at the Springboro food pantry. With the new Relief Society presidency, this is one of the community organizations they have chosen to become involved with. As we filled bags with food for families to pick up and organized the back room where they keep all the food, it really hit me just how good people are. After we had been there about an hour, a lady came and knocked on the window of the storage room we were working in-- we went to meet her at the door. Her church had spent a Saturday at various grocery stores collecting donations for four different food pantries and she had a CAR FULL of food she needed help unloading. We were happy to assist her in this and as we began to sort the food into the places it needed to go to, I realized that people helping people selflessly really does still happen today. Then my thoughts drifted to the church's welfare program. Isn't it amazing that the Lord has put in place a program to keep members of His church watched over and provided for? Yes, the people in this particular community are lucky because someone took it upon themselves to start this program-- BUT not all communities have things like this, and not all the needs are able to be met in other communities that do have similar programs. I am grateful to know that no matter where I am, the Lord has a system in place through the channels of stewardship that I will always be able to survive temporally.

We received a referral for a house we needed to just tract into about a week ago. By the time we were able to do it, it was Friday and we knocked on all the doors on the street. When we got to 'the' door we were nicely rejected and Sister Angell said, "well, that was a waste of time..." I said "no... you never know what seeds we have planted. Lets keep going." So we did and the next door we knocked on we got a return appointment with. I know the Lord is preparing people to receive the gospel in our lives, though it isn't always who we might expect. Sometimes he just needs us to exercise faith and do the things we know we need to do before we see a result. I don't know if anything will end up happening with Isabella, but I do know the Lord lead us to her for a reason through a referral that someone faithfully passed onto us after they were prompted to do so. We MUST pay attention to our promptings!

I love you all so so much, I know if we heed the council we received in general conference this weekend, we can be a forever family. Nothing brings me greater joy! Go and do some missionary work in your corner of the world this week! You will make your Heavenly Father and this missionary very happy-- plus, you will affect generations :)

Love,

Sister Chelsea Lynn LeSueur

Firm as the mountains around us, stalwart and brave we stand...

2010-09-27T13:11:00.006-05:00

Dearest family,

Wow, it has been quite the week. Holy cow, I'm embarking on my 6th transfer out of 12. Where is all the time going!? ...And conference is about to happen in 4 and a half days... And fall is here. I officially opened up my suitcase and grabbed a heavy sweater this morning! Before we know it, winter will be here and this sister missionary will be freezing for four months!

I just love this time of year though. People are getting excited for the upcoming holiday season, and they are ready to make changes in their lives. We have met several wonderful people who are curious about who we are and why we are out walking around carrying books and wearing name tags. I love what a good conversation piece the little blue Book of Mormon we carry around all day is! I wish every member everywhere would carry around a copy of the Book of Mormon with them everywhere they went. Maybe you should try it this week!

We had a really amazing thing happen on Thursday-- We took Kent Haisley on a tour of the church building. We were waiting for our member to show up and sitting in the foyer talking to him when he informed us that he likes what he's heard from us and read in the Book of Mormon but he just can't leave the people of his church. They're depending too much on him. Well, we talked about covenants and the service opportunities in the church, and then Brother Clark showed up and so did the Middletown missionaries (who were coincidentally there to get things ready for their church tour later in the day) so we all began our tour of the church together... In the primary room, our district leader, Elder Savage, made the comment that the Lord always looks out for his children and he will always provide someone to pick up the slack -- Elder Savage didn't know what was going on with Kent, but he said, "there will be someone to watch over the people in your church that you're now in charge of, but nobody can make your covenants with Heavenly Father except for you." It really struck Kent... and when he came to church yesterday, he felt the spirit strongly and was moved to tears-- despite all the noisy children! He'll be snow birding down to Florida for a month, home a month, then gone two months, but maybe the distance is what he needs to help him not feel so unseverably connected to his church. Oh, and he's at the end of the Book of Mormon-- when he finishes, he plans on going through the index then starting all over again. He is truly an amazing man!

I love this gospel. I love my savior. The things that he did for each of us on an incredibly individual level are truly amazing--- we must let the Atonement work in our lives! We must seek for the personal revelation we need. It's there for each of us if we will but ask for it. The gospel is true!!

Enjoy conference this weekend-- take notes, and try to understand what Heavenly Father wants you to know personally!

Love you so so much,
Sister Chelsea Lynn LeSueur

You can make a pathway bright, fill the soul with Heaven's light, if there's sunshine in your heart! ...

2010-09-20T10:14:00.001-05:00

Dear wonderful family,

What a blessed time to be alive! Five days 'till the Relief Society broadcast and twelve days 'till General Conference! I encourage you to look inward and pick a question or two you have for Heavenly Father-- something you need help with or guidance on-- and prayerfully ask to receive the revelation you need during the conference broadcasts. Your prayers will be answered and you will know the will of the Lord in your life. Also, make sure to have something handy while you watch to write down the impressions you receive... the more you write, the more you'll get! Heavenly Father is so wonderful like that!

We have had a wonderful week... A new man we began teaching this week is Doug. Doug is divorced and has custody of his 11 year old daughter Hannah. He has an amazingly pure spirit. We taught him on Saturday, he came to church yesterday, and we're teaching him again next Saturday. He is a member referral-- His boss at the Y is a member of the Little Miami ward and she has really taken Doug and Hannah under her wing. She has been an amazing example to them and when the time was right, she turned him over to the missionaries! You never know who the Lord will place in your life who is ready to hear the gospel. Always be ready and willing! Doug will be an amazing member of God's Kingdom one day soon, and I just know it is what Hannah needs as she enters the scary world of middle/high school!

Another wonderful thing happened this week when a less active family we have been visiting previously, but not in the last two weeks, kept their appointment on Saturday AND asked if we could teach them the missionary lessons. I know the Lord has been working on softening their hearts and I know being fully active in the gospel is what will bring their family happiness and safety. So, Next Friday, we will be going to the Harries home with a member of the ward and work to remind them of the testimonies they once had. I'm optimistic :)

This is an amazing work of which we get to be a part... I feel so blessed to be a full time missionary in the wonderful Springboro ward. I love my savior, Jesus Christ, and I know we are all children of a very loving Heavenly Father. I know the gospel of Jesus Christ has indeed been restored to the earth in these Latter days and we can come to know this through reading the Book of Mormon and praying to know of its truthfulness. I love you guys, and I know our family can be together forever. Have a great week!

Love,

Sister Chelsea LeSueur

My heart shall triumph in my Lord and bless His works and bless His word ...

2010-09-13T12:20:00.000-05:00

Dearest Family,

I just adore fall... and living in a place where the leaves actually change colors makes it even more magical! I LOVE The Ohio!

This week Sister Angell brought home a tummy bug from one of the many homes we visited and she was out of commission Tuesday then Wednesday it was my turn. You know, I'm all about companionship unity but... this was a little much. Luckilly on Wednesday we had a Zone meeting before which we received a blessing from our zone leaders, Elder Hansen and Elder Harris. I am so grateful for the healing power of the priesthood, and I am grateful for the council we receive from Heavenly Father in blessings! In the blessing I was told that I would receive what I desired... It made me think about what I really want and at this point in my life, it was exactly what I needed to reevaluate what I want and what I'm doing to get there.

We met a wonderful woman Friday night. Her name is Kelly-- we were looking up former investigators and came to her home. Her son was outside painting the fence and told us that she would definitely be interested in talking to us again but that she wouldn't be back from work for another three hours. He asked if we could come back and we said, of course! When we came back, she was excited to see us and we began talking. One of her bestfriends is a member in Kentucky and that was how she got in contack with the missionaries three years ago. Then she started taking classes to get her RN and got insanely busy, but would love to talk to us more now as she has a little bit more of a set schedule that isn't jam-packed with reading anatomy books! We're excited to get to know her better!

The gospel is true, I love our savior, Jesus Christ. Through Him all mankind can be saved, and I am so grateful for that knowledge-- it truly changes lives :)

Have a superb and wonderful week<3

Love, Sister Chelsea LeSueur

Doing good is a pleasure, a joy beyond measure!

2010-09-07T12:44:00.000-05:00

Hello family and Happy almost fall!!

Our preparation day yesterday began with a brisk 3 mile bike ride in Waynesville with the wonderful Saige Magley-- a laurel in the ward who is amazing. Hah, the elders couldn't believe we actually WANTED to ride bikes on our preparation day... We told them that for us, it is a recreational activity. They sort of grunted at that-- but nonetheless, it was a wonderful thing to do on a cool 60* morning :)

This week we had the wonderful experience of seeing the evidence of being in tune with the spirit. As a missionary, you study the scriptures, spend most of the day with a prayer in your heart to be where you need to be, and practice strict obedience so you can be worthy of feeling and recognizing the promptings of the spirit-- sometimes when you've followed a prompting you're able to say, "I know that is where we needed to go/what we needed to do/what we needed to say", but many times we just trust that good happened even if we didn't see it as a direct result. Well, this last week, we felt prompted to drop in on certain members and it seemed like we were there right when they needed help or right when they were visiting with a less active member or a friend who needed to feel the spirit through us. It was amazing because as a result of following promptings this week, we were able to say several times that we were right where we needed to be. I was grateful for those experiences this week-- it was just a little reminder from Heavenly Father about how great a privilege His spirit and guidance is, not only in our lives, but our influence in the lives of others as well!

How grateful I am for the spirit of the Lord. I am grateful for His guidance and the outpour of love from him I feel daily. I am grateful that we know that God speaks to us today-- personally and as a church. I'm grateful that He can use us as angels in the lives of others-- we just have to be worthy of and listen to the promptings He sends our way! Who can you serve today? Just ask Heavenly Father... You will be used :)

The gospel is true!! I love you!

Love,

Sister Chelsea LeSueur

O thou who changest not, abide with me!

2010-08-30T13:09:00.000-05:00

Hello wonderful family!

It has only been a few short days since I was last able to email you all... Not many new developments except for that I decided that Sunday is definitely NOT a day of rest when you are a missionary! It's probably our BUSIEST day, and I love it... But I am very grateful they put preparation day on Monday-- a day to recoup from the Sabbath!

I thought today, I would share with you parts of my testimony-- It's strong and growing every day.

I am so grateful for the never-changing gospel of Jesus Christ. I am grateful for the Atonement and the change we can all bring about in ourselves through it and with the Lord's help. I am grateful for prayer and for the chance we have to communicate with the Lord through it-- He answers us, I know he does, and he always answers us with exactly what we need. I know there are angels among us, and many times it is you and I who get to me those angels! We must be worthy to receive the promptings from the lord to do the things he needs us to do! I know the Book of Mormon and the Bible contain the words of the Lord and His prophets-- I know that when we study it, we can come to know Him and what we need to do to return to live with Him again. We must study the scriptures and work daily to improve our conversations with the Lord through prayer-- that is the nourishment our spirits need!! I know we lived with our Father in Heaven before we came to earth-- He is the literal father of our spirits. I know we can return to live with him again some day if we are worthy and faithful. I know families can be together forever through the priesthood ordinances performed in the temple... I am so grateful for this knowledge! The gospel is true-- live it and love it!

Have a really great week-- look for the opportunities you will have to help one of the brothers or sisters placed in your path on his or her way back to our Father in Heaven. I know you will be blessed with the opportunity if you truly want it!

Love you tons,

Sister Chelsea LeSueur

Families can be together forever-- through Heavenly Father's plan...

2010-08-26T16:20:00.001-05:00

I feel so blessed because today I have had the chance to be spiritually fed as I attended the temple with my district. It is just amazing to have the opportunity to attend the temple quarterly as a missionary. So many missionaries aren't able to go at all on their missions. Some people laugh that I prayed to go on a mission to somewhere that has a temple, but there is an undeniable power that the temple has-- we have been working with several less active members to turn their sights toward the temple, and I know it is because I have had the chance to attend regularly that I understand the importance of having a goal like that. I am not a missionary to baptize people, I'm a missionary to bring families to the temple so they can be together forever through faithfulness to the covenants they make there. Ahh! The gospel is true and the priesthood power Heavenly Father entrusts us with is amazing and real and what can bind us to him and to each other for eternity!

We have been working with this wonderful woman, Linda, this week. She is a friend of Julianna Schaefer in the ward, and she is one of the kindest, most genuine people I've met. She has a hard time with organized religion-- so we've been serving and loving her this week. I know she will someday be dressed in white making covenants with our Heavenly Father-- in the mean time, we will teach her as we serve her!

We have been teaching a man, Kent, who is baptist and was saved about 5 years ago. When we explained to him the Plan of Salvation, he got teary eyed as he explained that his son who died a couple years ago hadn't been 'saved' and he was told by his preacher that he is in hell because of that.. He explained that the Plan of Salvation made so much sense beacuse he KNEW his son wasn't damned. It just didn't make sense to him how that could be. We asked him if he would be baptized by someone holding the propper priesthood authority when he came to know the gospel is true and he said, "absolutely!" Now we wait for him to get his answer-- he is an amazing man who is so sincere in his desire for knowlege. Keep him in your prayers :)

Life is good. Ohio is amazing. Being a missionary is awesome. The gospel is true. Families are forever.

Love,

Sister Chelsea LeSueur

And when the tempest rages high I feel no arm around me thrust, but every storm goes rolling by when I repose in him my trust

2010-08-16T12:04:00.002-05:00

Dearest family,

What a great day-- the gospel is true and it's only 85* outside! Fall is indeed on its way!

We had a really neat experience with a new investigator last night-- Her name is Robyn and she was vacationing in San Diego with her daughter. While they were there, they went to the new Mormon Batallion Visitor's Center and she requested a copy of the Book of Mormon. When we delivered it to her last night, she was sincerely interested in knowing if the church is true and was excited to receive her own copy of the Book of Mormon. The lesson was only mediocre as far as the actual teaching went, but the spirit was so strong, I know He was the real teacher there. It just reminded me, no matter how flawed we are, if we're where we need to be, doing the things we need to do, Heavenly Father--one way or another-- makes up the difference. I know I am so inadequate in this work, but through God, my shortcomings are smoothed over and He is able to use me as a tool to bring my brothers and sisters unto Him. That's what happened last night, and that was amazing to be a part of.

I am so grateful to be a missionary and to be able to share the truthfulness of the gospel with The Ohio! I am constantly amazed by the miracles and tender mercies of the Lord in our lives... Sister Schaefer is one of the ward missionaries. Her husband has had quite a lot of medical difficulties and she has been forced to be the provider for their family these last seven or so years-- so she opened a bakery and is the cake lady now! Things are rough as his health continues to go up and down, and financially they have a hard time every month, but she is always so quick to point out the blessings she has received on an hourly basis. I want to be like that, and that is what I will focus on this week... noticing all the things Heavenly Father blesses me with constantly throughout the day. I invite y'all to join me... Let's take time to notice all the good things and silver linings in our lives!

The gospel is true, Christ is our savior, and Heavenly Father loves us :)

Have a phenomenal week <3

Love,

Sister Chelsea Lynn LeSueur

"Does the journey seem long, the pathway rugged and steep? ...Take his hand and with him enter in."

2010-08-09T13:54:00.000-05:00

Helloooooo Family!

Wow, what a week it has been...Transfers came, and we were so sure we would be unaffected by them-- but the Lord had different plans for us! Sister Lewis was transferred to the East Gate in Batavia, Ohio, and Sister Stephanie Angell (who came from the MTC with Sister Lewis) got transferred into Springboro with me from Lancaster! I was sad to see my blonde twin go, but Sister Lewis is fantastic and I just know we are going to do amazing work together!

There's a new sister in our ward-- Grace Hsu. She just moved here two weeks ago from Taiwan. She is speaks Chinese and Japanese fluently, and we have begun reading the Book of Mormon with her in English so she can get better at the language which she is surrounded by. She was baptized in September 2008 in Taiwan, and she has one of the sweetest testimonies I have ever heard. This just proves that the spirit speaks in a universal language... I am so impressed by her-- she has come faithfully to church these last two weeks even though her roommate is opposed to Christianity, even though she has no car, and even though she can barely understand what is being said. She said she looks forward to church every week because of the peace she feels there. I just love her, and she has no idea of the influence she has had on me this week!

I know this is the true gospel of Jesus Christ. I know it was restored to the prophet Joseph Smith. I know the Book of Mormon is the true word of God and I know we can come to know Him and His plan for us through studying it.

Have a wonderful week and know how much I love you all!

Love,

Sister Chelsea LeSueur

Count Your Many Blessings, Name them One By One...

2010-07-26T11:50:00.002-05:00

Hello Dear Family,

I love you tons and completely think the world of you... Thanks for being so amazing!

We were blessed to hear from a youth speaker in church yesterday and in his talk he challenged us all to make a list of 50 things we're grateful for every day for a week, then at the end of each day, say a prayer thanking Heavenly Father for these things and His wonderful benevolence. He promised that in so doing, we would be more aware of our blessings and the Lord's tender mercies in our lives... then, at the end of the week we would have a knowledge of at least 350 things we're grateful and Heavenly Father would know of our gratitude! I loved this challenge and I will be doing it this week-- I invite all of you to do this with me and notice all the blessings you have in your lives. One thing has become abundantly clear to me in these last six months and it it that Heavenly Father is so aware of us and merciful towards us--- He blesses us with things daily, but... is it really a blessing if we don't notice it?

The Ohio continues to be amazing. I love it here and with each day I come to a more perfect knowledge that this is right where I am supposed to be right now in my life!

We began teaching Alice this week. She requested a Book of Mormon while visiting Temple Square. When we delivered it to her and asked her to if she would read and and pray about it, she said, "Of course! That's why I ordered it!"

I LOVED that response! We have a return appointment this Wednesday with her! I feel so blessed to be a part of this great work!

The gospel is true and families are forever-- Of this I am SURE.

Smile... Life is too short to be grumpy. Just count your MANY blessings!

All my love,

Sister LeSueur

"In ancient days, the gospel plan was giv'n of God to men; In latter days, the gospel is restored to the earth again"

2010-07-19T11:42:00.004-05:00

Hello wonderful family,

Wow, I have felt a particular dose of love from you all this last week-- for no in particular reason that I can see, I have just felt extra love. So, thank you for whatever you're doing... Keep it up!

Good news-- At zone conference on Thursday, President Jensen came up to Sister Lewis and me and said, "Congratulations on converting your bishop!" Well, when we looked at him with puzzled faces, he explained, "About a week after you got to Springboro, I got an email from your bishop telling me that the Springboro ward needed elders because they have 16 priests! Well, earlier this week I got another email from him telling me how wonderful the two of you are and thanking me for being inspired to put sisters in the area. Congratulations on converting your bishop!"

Pretty much, Sister Lewis and I were floating when we heard this tidbit and it was just a further testimony that prayer works and mission assignments are inspired. When we were in PEC on Sunday morning reporting about the week's work, we found out that we had gotten into two different homes that (we didn't know) are on the 'Do Not Contact' list. In both instances, we had wonderfully positive conversations with these sisters, and we look forward to serving them more and loving them back into activity. Missionary work is wonderful and inspired and I am so grateful to be a part of it!

Last night, Richard (just baptized last Saturday the 10th) and his momma, Sheila (an investigator), came with us to the Dayton Stakes Mission Fireside where President Jensen and members of the stake presidency spoke. It was a wonderfully positive experience and I know Richard and Sheila felt the spirit strongly. They have such a strong relationship and they both just want to do what's right. Despite opposition from Richard's sister, he is strong and unwavering in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Saturday night the Clawsons invited Richard's family and several other ward members over for a barbecue-- several of Richard's friends got together and bought him a leather quad and gave it to him that night. He was so excited!! Good friends are the best! Next Sunday, Sheila is having us over for lunch after church... There was talk of biscuits and gravy. I'm excited!

I know the gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored and I know that it's on the earth today. I know we are happy when we live the commandments. I know families can be together forever through Heavenly Father's plan. I love our Savior, Jesus Christ, and I am so grateful for His atoning sacrifice. Be happy-- The gospel is true!

Love you all TONS,

Sister Chelsea LeSueur

"The pow'rs of heav'n are opened wide to men of God below; The knowledge, gifts, and keys are ours, all blessings to bestow"

2010-07-12T11:02:00.001-05:00

Hello wonderful family!

What a glorious day it is here in Springboro, Ohio! The sun is shining, it's delightfully humid, and a mere 87 degrees! I know you Texans and Arizonans are jealous. Don't worry-- I'm wearing nylons and between that and the humidity it feels more like 107. I'm sure I'm in good company!

It has been quite a wonderful week filled with new investigators, visiting less active members, and crowned with Richard Patterson's baptism on Saturday.

We were teaching Ed and his Fiance Carolyn this last week. We had planned just to teach about Jesus Christ and how our faith in Him affects our lives. We watched with them Finding Faith in Christ and our discussion/Carolyn's questions led perfectly into talking about the restoration. This in and of itsself is really nothing miraculous-- what is really amazing though is how Sister Lewis and I had just planned earlier that day for teaching this lesson to another investigator (Rene) right after our lesson with Ed and Carolyn. We had the lesson fresh in our minds. Right before we headed over to Ed's, Rene called and rescheduled our appointment. Because of this, we had the time to teach Ed and Carolyn the restoration, we were unified because we had planned it earlier in the day, and the spirit was in abundance. Sister Lewis bore and awesome testamony of the Book of Mormon, and Carolyn committed to read and pray. Currently, we're trying to track down a large print copy for Ed-- meanwhile, Carolyn agreed to read it to him! They invited us back for dinner this Wednesday, so I'll report on that next week!

As for Richard's baptism, what can I say? It was amazing! He had an outpouring of love and support from the ward-- particularly the youth. I was incredibly imressed with his mom who came to the baptism and was so supportive and felt the spirit in abundance. Sunday, when he was confirmed, his mom and step-dad came for the first hour and it was wonderful to see the love they have for him. We are planning a barbecue with their family and some of the other families in the ward for this saturday at the Clawson's home.

So many wonderful miracles this week... Here's some food for thought to consider this week-- a pearl of wisdom found on the wrapper of a dove chocolate: "It's only a blessing if you notice it". Take time to NOTICE your blessings this week-- then thank Heavenly Father for them :)

I love you tons!

Love,

Sister Chelsea LeSueur

ps-- BETHANY HELDT-- I need your address! :)

"We love to share thy holy word with quiet thought and prayer. We humbly bear thy witness, Lord, of thy redeeming name."

2010-07-06T09:57:00.003-05:00

Hello wonderful family,

What an amazing week it has been here in Ohio! Happy July, Happy belated Independance Day, and Happy Ohio Columbus mission now including Cincinatti as of July 1 day! Isn't it amazing how much can happen in a week?!

Some more exciting news from Springboro-- Richard Patterson, an 18 year old who has been attending seminary for the last half of the year, has decided to be baptized. We met with him, asked him what the hang up was, and invited him to be baptized this Saturday the tenth of July! He accepted, and we are now working towards that day! He has invited several of the youth to participate in his baptismal service and I know it is going to be a wonderful spiritual experience for his family who is really quite supportive of his religious endeavors! His baptismal interview is today :)

We are learning how to work with this ward's leaders... I would love advice on what tactics missionaries have used in your wards to win the leaders over. I think everyone is excited that we're sisters, but no one knows what to do with us!

The time is far spent and we have a lesson at 11:00-- sorry for the terseness of this email, but I love this work, I love this gospel, and I love my savior!

Consequently, I would also love some mail...

Have a super week and do some missionary work in your corner of God's vineyard :)

Love,
Sister Chelsea LeSueur

As I walk daily here on earth, give me thy sprit as I seek a change of heart, another birth, and grow, dear Lord, to be like thee.

2010-06-28T12:32:00.003-05:00

Well hello dear family!

I hope this email finds you all healthy, wealthy, and well! I have been thinking a lot about you all lately-- I have definitely felt your prayers this week with the news of the transfer and the calling to train. All the insecurities I have felt about being doubled into a new area have been calmed by the kind hand of the Lord and by my knowlege of the amazing family I come from with "strong & in-de-pen-dAnt wo-men" who can do anything that comes their way! Thanks for the strength, ladies!

Here I am in Springboro, Ohio, training Sister Aubin Lewis from Albuquerque, New Mexico. Elders have been here for the last two years, and for the most part have done a stellar job. It made us feel really loved though, because most every one was thrilled that there were new sisters in the ward! That's what it means to be 'doubled into' an area-- both missionaries who have previously been serving there are transfered somewhere else and two new missionaries are put it. Being an elder's area for the last two years, I'm sure you can imaging what kind of condition the apartment was in... Boys are gross is all I will say about that.

This is my address... I LOVE/NEED mail! :)

(For safety reasons we aren't posting her address here. Please leave a comment with your email address if you want Chelsea's mailing address and we will send it to you!)

The ward here is wonderful and I am so grateful to have the opportunity to work with these wonderful people! It's a cute area with big houses that remind me of those in Texas. Very different from Newark, but I know this is where I need to be. The Lord is so wonderful how he works that out--- Even though I wasn't ready to leave Moundbuilders, He knows this is what I need at this point in my life/mission!

Sister Lewis and I both feel very strongly about reactivation efforts. Because she's a new missionary, she has a lot of faith that we can move mountains here and her enthusiasm is contageous! It's really refreshing to have that brand new missionary perspective... Like I said-- The Lord knows exactly what we need if we will just quit fighting against Him, he'll lead us exactly where we need to go!

I'll definitely have more specific events and people to report on next week... But as for now, just know that I am happy and well. I love being a missionary. I love the gospel. I love my family... The gospel is so so true!!

Love,

Sister Chelsea LeSueur

"In the Name of Christ Our Savior, Did You Sue for Loving Favor as a Shield Today"

2010-06-21T12:46:00.001-05:00

Hello everyone from The humidly HOT Ohio!

This week has been quite a week... and this next week is going to be crazy too! We have transfers this Thursday and I can't believe I have been out here for four and a half months! I don't feel like a 'greenie' anymore! I just hope I don't leave Moundbuilders yet... I feel like I'm just getting started-- but just in case, if you have any mail, send it to the PO box:
PO Box 939
Powell, Ohio 43065

This week we had a Stake Priesthood Leadership Training meeting and I was in attendance. It was kind of funny being one of two women there... but as a sister missionary, I'm getting used to being outnumbered!

It was really a wonderful meeting-- We're formulating new ways to help our ward mission program more successful and there was someone there who previously had implemented a ward plan that emulated a real mission with zones and zone leaders who's focus was the less active members in the ward. I thought that was genius and I'll spend the rest of my mission being a cheerleader and promoter of that!

WONDERFUL NEWS-- Tevon is getting baptized THIS Saturday! She went to girls camp last week and received the answer to her prayers that she should get baptized on the 26th. I know this is going to be exactly what she needs and I'm so excited! There's even talk about her going on a mission in two years! If for no other reason, I needed to be here in Ohio to meet that wonderful girl!! Keep her in your prayers--- Satan works really hard on people the week before they make covenants with our Heavenly Father!

I am so encouraged. The gospel is wonderful and SO VERY TRUE! I am so grateful I have this knowledge and I am so grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who answers prayers. I know He is there and He knows what we need. I know if we work really hard in this life we can be happily with our families for eternity! I love being a missionary for the Lord-- He is so good to me! Who will you share the gospel with this week? Your brothers and sisters are waiting...

I love you!

Love,
Sister Chelsea LeSueur

"Yes, Say What is Truth? 'Tis the Brightest Prize to Which Mortals or Gods Can Aspire."

2010-06-14T12:21:00.001-05:00

Hello!
It's the middle of June. Can you believe it? It's the middle of June!! The first day of summer is coming up next week, though based on the humidity here, I thought summer set in a long time ago... Never mind that though, I'm a Texan and I thrive in humid weather! I just need to realize that long sleeves and sweaters don't so much fly anymore as fare as wardrobe choices go! When will I learn?

So, we have been trying to meet with Whitney Stevens and her husband-- I can't remember if I told y'all about her-- we met her tracting and she said she really wanted to meet with us but she was completely taken down by the flu... She told us to come back, so we did about a week or so later. When we talked to her that time, she wasn't too interested in the message, but you know me-- I can talk for ever to anyone, so I did and it was after we really got to know her she invited us back. When we came back for the third time, we taught her and her 4 yr old and her 20 month old the restoration-- despite all the distractions that come with the little ones, we all felt the spirit really strongly. We left her with a copy of the Book of Mormon and asked her to read and pray about it. She told us that her husband (whos mom is a recent convert in Oregon) was interested in meeting with us but his work schedule is crazy busy-- we set up an apointment for yesterday to meet with their whole family all together. Well, when we got there yesterday, we found out that her little girl has a highly contageous staph infection... she had been in the hospital for the last three days. So, we had to reschedule. Whitney's husband made the comment that he thinks the new home they moved into is cursed because it's just been one thing after another since they moved in... When we got in the car, we decided the adversary is just trying really hard to keep them from learning the things that will make their family happy and together forever. Well, he isn't going to succede without a fight... Please keep the Stevens family in your prayers!

I love you all. I love this gospel. I love being a missionary-- Thanks for all your prayers and examples... Now, go out and do some good wherever you may be today!

Love,
Siste Chelsea LeSueur

"Awake, ye Saints of God, awake! Call on the Lord in Mighty Prayer..."

2010-06-07T10:52:00.003-05:00

Hello!

I hope you've been worried about me-- there has been a lot of tornadoey weather! But never fear... I am still alive! There are a lot of broken trees and such all around Newark, a lot of people need new roofs, and many a tree-dented car, but your cute sister missionary withstood the storm :)

Yesterday was fast Sunday, and as happy as I was for the opportunity to fast and such, I knew Dave Moran and Tevon would both be at church, and sometimes us Mormons with our loose cannon mouths can make a missionary worry! I prayed that it would be a great uplifting testimony meeting and, indeed it was! The Lord hears and answers our prayers, and awesomely enough, there seemed to be a theme during the meeting about prayer! That is exactly what both Tevon and Dave need right now. The Lord knew what they needed and prompted our wonderful ward to share their testimonies of prayer! How grateful this simple experience made me for a loving Heavenly Father who is so involved in and concerned with His children's lives!

Sister Seibel and I continue to find... I'm liking tracting more and more-- they say you get your best stories from tracting and I think that is definitely the truth! I continue to learn a lot from my wonderful companion... I know that we really are supposed to be together right now. Come to find out, she's a lot like my lovely sister and once I realized that, I knew better what to make of a lot of the situations we find ourselves in! I really love her and I'm so grateful for mission companionships!

I know the gospel is true with all my heart. I know we can be completely changed through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I know families are together forever.

I love being a missionary! Thanks for your prayers, they are SO felt! <3

Love,
Sister Chelsea LeSueur

Count your many blessings every doubt will fly and you will be singing as the days go by!

2010-06-03T15:42:00.001-05:00

Hello all you wonderful people! I hope you're all doing well and feeling the Lord's smile on you in whatever little corner of the world you may chance to be in right now!

Ohio is wonderful-- Although, I thought I was back in Texas last night with our Tornado warning, super strong winds, and power outage last night! Hah, we were at the church for our correlation meeting and so were all the kids for mutual and it was so funny to hear them talk/freak out when the sirens started going. I very calmly tried to explain to them that the sirens are only a precaution... it doesn't actually mean a tornado is heading straight for us! But... It's more fun to freak out, so I wasn't too offended when my advice wasn't whole-heatedly taken! When we got to our apartment, we were surprised to find that we had no power! So we watched the storm for a while and then talked as we were in bed... the power didn't come back on 'till 3:00 in the morning! This morning, we saw several trees with big branches that had been broken off. That always makes me feel so sad to see that! We must have had some pretty strong winds!

This week was great! David Moran came to church on Sunday. He was only able to stay for Sacrament, but he loved it! We extended July 3rd as a baptismal date to him and he's praying about it-- so, Ill keep you posted! He's really moving right along in his reading... He's at the end of 2 Nephi already!

We have started teaching a woman, Joyce Heckmann, and she seems really interested. We'll be teaching her the Plan of Salvation on Friday!

There's this interesting phenomenon up here... It's called 'Summer Snow'. Any guesses as to what it is? it's the 'cotton' from the Cottonwood trees! It's the craziest thing... It blows around up here like crazy and if you're just looking out the window, it really does look like it's snowing! I <3 Ohio!

I love this great work. I love the gospel of Jesus Christ. I love the healing power the Atonement has in our lives. I love my family. I have so many blessings!

Love you tons!
Sister Chelsea LeSueur

"Awake, ye Saints of God, awake!

2010-05-24T11:22:00.000-05:00

Hello wonderful family!
It's your little Ohioan here bragging about the beautiful 70* blue sky I get to admire today! Oh man, these last two days have been gorgeous, and after the last week of solid rain, everyone is just soaking up the sun! I just love Ohio! There are so many trees that driving we get to enjoy a sea of different shades of green! It's kind of like Ireland, but a little more redneck :)

Sister Seibel and I had an amazing week and we're really teaching each other a lot! She has taught me a lot about exact obedience, and I have helped her come out of her shell a bit. I just love her and I know she is who I need in my life right now!

We've been tracting a lot-- and since that wasn't Sister Parry's forte, I have learned a lot in this last week and a half! We have found four new investigators, and actually, I use the term 'found' loosely. Heavenly Father lead us to them because of our faith and obedience. It is just amazing the way the Lord works! Dave Morin was a man we contacted in downtown Newark on the square Sister Seibel's first day here! We gave him a copy of the Book of Mormon and told him we would call him in a week-- well, when we called him this last Thursday he apologised that he was only on chapter 5 but said he was enjoying it. We set up a meeting for Sunday (yesterday) and when we got there, he wasin the middle of reading chapter 14! We had a wonderful first lesson and we have another teaching appointment for this Wednesday!

We came across Andrew at a dinner appointment. When we went to the door, Sister Crook came to meet us and seemed very frazzled. She said, "I hope it's ok, but DarrLynn's friend Andrew wants to come over and talk to you. Is that allright?!" Of course we were super excited and said yes! Andrew just graduated and is reading the Book of Mormon now. We have an apt wth him the beginning of June! :)

Peggy and Abby are a mother/daughter-- we went to their address because it was a referral from Mt Vernon members for Drew Spalding. But when we got there, Drew didn't live there-- But Peggy and Abby were really enthused about hearing the gospel! We have another apt with them this Wednesday! It's truly amazing the way the Lord works-- Alma 16:16-17

I love being a missionary. I love serving others. I love the Lord and I am so grateful for the gospel!!

Love you bunches,
Sister Chelsea LeSueur

hello!

2010-05-24T10:56:00.000-05:00

I just got here to email and I only have one from cam! Is anyone else there?

Ne'er despairing though defeated, God speed the right!

2010-05-17T12:41:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone... I love you!!

It's been a great week... crazy busy and super long, but wonderful nonetheless!

Transfers were Thursday-- Sister Parry got transferred down to Greenfield and Sister Seibel got transferred up from Greenfield! Sister Seibel is wonderful... She's from Boise, Idaho and she's been out 10 months. This is her third area, Miamisburg over by Dayton being her first. She has a fraternal twin and is the youngest out of her three other sisters-- the only one to serve a mission. She's known she has wanted to be a missionary since she was 14! She's an amazing cellist and will be finishing her degree at Boise State when the mish is through. She's got a guy, Ted, back home... They met three months before she left for Ohio and they're really cute together. She's wonderful and very diligent and we've already done some wonderful work together... I'm so excited to work with her!! :)

Friday was our first full day together and it was so weird... I've spent 2016 hours during the last 3months with one companion and all of a sundden she was gone-- CRAZY!! But we got our weekly planning done and then went out to Pataskala to visit our people out there. We had an amazing lesson with Nancy about Family history and temple work. She got all excited to participate in it, it was wonderful! Then we tracted. Oh man, I wish people knew what they were turning down when they say they're not interested. Does anyone have any tips for a tracting missionary?

We found out that Sister Schofield ( a less active member) needed help disinfecting her house from the hand foot and mouth disease her little ones had contracted, so that's what we did for a good chunk of time Saturday... Disinfected!

Sunday was wonderful... but time is now out. I love you all... Thanks for your love and prayers!

Love, Sister Chelsea LeSueur
xoxox

You can live a happy life in this world of toil and strife, if there's sunshine in your heart!

2010-05-10T10:32:00.000-05:00

Hello, dear family!

What a beautiful day it is here in Newark-- sunny with clear blue skies and it's about 60*. We are so blessed to be able to live in such a BEAUTIFUL world!! I just love springtime, although, I'm sure for you Arizonans summer is a little more near than you would like. Just remember y'all get 60* winters whilst I'll be donning a parka and long johns under my skirt!

Happy Mother's Day to everyone. I sure enjoyed talking to my family yesterday... Family is so important and I am so blessed that I have such a wonderful one! Families truly are eternal and I am grateful for this plain and simple truth!

This week went really well! This last Saturday we dubbed it our 'Super Service Saturday'. We spent the whole day performing service-- some of the things we did include lawn work for Sister Hull, stripping wallpaper for Sister Brunn, and helping Sister Neville pack and move. Sister Hull is wonderful and we really enjoy helping her out-- I really do quite like edging! Sister Brunn has been stripping wallpaper for the last year and a half, so we were happy to be a small part of that ongoing project-- plus she's hilarious and a really cool lady to know! Sister Neville moved from a big house into a timy apartment-- plus she doesn't throw anything away ever. Her apartment is packed from floor to ceiling with boxes and such and she is moving to Michigan on May 15. I don't feel like we got too much done there, but we made a little dent! Service truly is wonderful, it helps you get a small slimse into the savior's life and it helps us see others as Heavenly Father sees them... even if it is only for a split second. I am so grateful for this opportunity I have to serve!!

Friday we came to our apartment and there was a desk by the dumpster... We have been wanting a desk in our room since I got here, so it was like divine intervention. Sister Parry was a little embarrased to be bringing up a desk from the dumpster, but she did and carried it up the stairs and it looks great in our room. Well, Saturday, we decided it was actually a changing table. So we have a changing table in our room. But I write in my journal at it every night... Ahh, the life of a missionary!

Transfers are this Thursday... So next Monday I'll let you know of the outcome. You never can tell what's going to happen even if you really really think you know. The Lord likes to shake things up every so often, or so I hear!

I love being a missionary. I love Ohio. I love the Lord, and I Love the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Never stop smiling, singing, or praying. They're all of great importance!

Love you all tons,
Sister Chelsea LeSueur

I am a child of God... Rich blessings are in store!

2010-05-03T13:35:00.000-05:00

Hello all you beautiful people!

It is a beautiful May day here in Ohio, and things are so brilliantly green it is so amazing to think about the contrast of the white deadness that ensued when I got here three months ago!

Things continue to go wonderfully up here. I have definitely felt your love and prayers this week, as well as the love and guidance of our Heavenly Father.

We had a wonderful experience this week as we visited with a less active family in our ward. Their granddaughter is living with them and she has had such an incredibly hard life for the short nine years she's been alive. When we got to their house, Brother Dowell asked us if rather than discussing the Book of Mormon chapters they had read this last week if we could talk to their granddaughter, Ravon, instead. He briefly told us that there were some custody issues going on and told us about the rough time she is having at school and he feels like it would do her some good to talk to us as an objective third party. Of course, we said yes. We went in the house and sat there and listened to this bearutful little girl cry as she talked about the meanness of her other grandma, of the fear she feels at her mom's house because her boyfriend has tried to choke her mom before, and of the loneliness she feels at school. My heart ached for her, and I had to hold back tears of my own. Sister Parry cleared her throat and asked Ravon if she knew she is a daughter of God who loves her perfectly and has a plan for her life. She said no. As we continued to tell her about her divine nature and individual worth, we told her that she can always pray to Heavenly Father no matter what and He would always be there to listen to her and comfort her. We then kneeled down with her and taught her how to pray. The three of us each said a prayer out loud asking for the strength, comfort, and guidance Ravon needed. Sister Parry and I said a prayer first and when it was Ravon's turn, she offered the sweetest most innocent prayer I have ever heard asking for help with this hard thing she was facing. After we prayed, we talked a little more and then she got quiet. When we asked her what she was thinking, she smiled and said, "That Heavenly Father loves me!"

I am so thankful for the knowlege I have that we are children of God. He loves us all and cares for us all and it is our job to remind one another of this simple truth. Who will you share this gem of knowlege with this week?

On a less spiritual note, I could really use some stamps... I sure do love writing my wonderful family, but--- the post office requires stamps before they'll deliver them!

I love you all a ton and I can't wait to talk to you on Mother's Day!

Have a happy week and remember to smile-- You're a child of God!

Lots and Lots of Love,
Sister Chelsea LeSueur

There is gladness in my soul today, and hope and praise and love, for blessings which he gives me now, for joys "laid up" above!

2010-04-26T16:21:00.001-05:00

Hello all you wonderful children of God!

It hit me this week what my job as a missionary really is-- I am to tell those who don't know how much their Heavenly Father really, really loves them. I'm slightly ashamed to admit that it has taken three months to realize this... I think I was getting all caught up in the extra stuff-- but really, my job is to tell those who are sad and lonely how much our Father in Heaven has a perfect love for them! What good news to those who don't know it!

It's been another wonderful week here in The Great Ohio Columbus Mission. I feel so blessed to serve the people here!

We had the opportunity do some service for Sister Hull this last week... She's a 73 year old woman who is recovering from cancer and when we were at her house last last Saturday she was telling us about how she was going to mow her lawn after we left. We told her how much we would love it if she would let us mow her lawn for her... So we made a service date for this last week-- Yes, I got pictures because I knew none of you would believe me when I told you I edged a lawn all by myself! Sister Parry was a natural on the riding lawn mower and the edges of the lawn were pretty straight when I was done! There's nothing quite like service to put a smile on your face!

Another family in our ward that is near to my heart is the Haltoms. They are an elderly couple from Mesa, Arizona and were married by a Bishop LeSueur in the early 90s I think. When we went to visit them last week, she was in the hospital with infections complicated by her congestive heart failure. We spoke with Brother Haltom for a time and then called the elders who covered the area where the hospital is to go and give her a blessing. We were pleasantly surprised when she was there this week when we paid them a visit. They are the cutest, happiest, most caring people I have met up here-- Dispite the rough circumstances they find themselves in, they are always trying to make us laugh and figure out what they can do for us. We were thrilled when Brother Haltom (who always refuses our offers to help them around the house) finally let us do their dishes-- a little coersion was involved... but we all ended up happy campers!

The world is such a beautiful place, and despite our circumstances, we can always CHOOSE to be happy. I am so grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ and all the wonderful knowlege I have because of it. I am grateful that I get to be a missionary. I am grateful for all the people I've met in the short time I've been here who have touched my life forever. Thanks for all your love and prayers--- They're felt and very much appreciated :)

Loves,
Sister Chelsea LeSueur

"Finding Strength Beyond My Own"

2010-04-19T16:03:00.000-05:00

What a wonderful week it has been here in the great OCM! Sorry this email is coming so late... but we were playing nerf gun wars with the Newark elders at the church. And Apples to Apples. And exploring the church's attic. It was awesome and it has been a wonderful P-day thus far!

Two wonderful things happened this week.
1.) Bob gave up smoking. He was smoking two packs a day and when we went to his house on Thursday to come up with a quit smoking game plan, and initially we had set a date of May 1 for him to quit smoking on because he didn't want to 'waste' the money he had spent on the several packs of cigarettes he had bought recently. As we continued talking after setting the May 1 date, I felt prompted to ask him if he wanted to quit anyway because he knows the church is true and that smoking is bad for him, why not just quit today. Sister Parry then pointed out that the money was already wasted, so either he could burn it in his lungs or he could throw it in the trash. He sat there for a second and then opted for the latter. He went in his house (we were meeting on the porch) and gathered up all his cigarettes, lighters, big bag of tobacco and papers to roll, and ashtrays and threw them into a big trash bag. When S. Parry and I got home, we counted 75 packs-- That's 1500 individual cigarettes! Friday he smoked one and Saturday he bought and smoked a pack, but I know that with the Lord's help, he will be successful. This week we're going to work on the coffee :)

2.) Cindy Gunn is a less active member in our ward and she has two kids, Athaena (9) and Chris (7). Chris has autism. She started coming back to church a few weeks ago and signed up to feed us on our meal calendar. We went over there and had a lovely dinner and she really opened up to us about her situation. She got offended by a remark another ward member made over the pulpet during fast and testimony meeting specifically about her and has struggled with feeling judged because she smokes and drinks tea. The reason she decided to come back a few weeks ago was her daughter who told her, "Mommy, my spirit is starving". She knew she had to set her hurt feelings aside and come back to church. She told us she was just so tired and wanted to feel peace. I felt prompted to promise her that she would find the peace she is looking for through the Book of Mormon. We then asked her if she would commit to reading a chapter a day from the book with at least her daughter and she agreed. A few minutes later she confessed that she needed a copy of the book of Mormon. We were happy to oblige. We talked to her yesterday and she told us she was having a hard time following the story, but she was continuing to read. We set up an appointment to come by and help her with the story line tomorrow :)

I love being a missionary. I have seen the tender mercies of the Lord in my life more abundantly these last few days then ever before and I am so thankful for his love and guidance. The gospel is true!!

Love, Sister Chelsea LeSueur

ps-- Bethany, I got your announcement this week... LOVE it. Letter soon to come :)

He Sent Me Here To Earth By Faith To Live His Plan. The Spirit Whispers This To Me And Tells Me That I Can

2010-04-12T09:35:00.000-05:00

Hello all you wonderful people!

What a wonderful week it has been in the great OCM! Stellar news-- BOB STROSHINE is getting baptized and so is Tevon!!! Bob has a date for the 15th of May (Bethany's wedding) and Tevon's is set for the 8th of May. I LOVE MAY!

Bob came to church yesterday wearing a white shirt and black pants. He looked so good! It made me reflect on 'the tough of the master's hand' and how through the gospel of Jesus Christ we can all have our rough edges smoothed away! Tevon lives in Zanesville, so she isn't technically ours, but since we've been teaching her and talking to her every day, we're basically sisters. I just think she's great and so is Bob and I am so excited for them!

The stake president at ward conference was really pushing for member present lessons more often than not, and so yesterday, we had S. Eros (a ward missionary) send around a sign up sheet for people who could go out with us. S. Parry didn't have much confidence in this tactic because she had fruitlessly tried it before, but being the optimistic greenie I am, I insisted we do it with faith. That sheet went around the entire RS room and only accumulated two signatures. One of them belonged to a woman who literally has no short term memory. Awesome. After RS a girl came up to us who we hadn't actually met before and told us she was the other signature... She's 20, her birthday is in October, and she's working on submitting her papers! She's not going to school because she's waiting to serve a mission, and she wants very badly to come out with us... YES! Whenever the Lord asks us to do something and we press forward in faith, he WILL provide a way for it to be accomplished.

Haha, in other news-- Here are a few signs of the times:
1. S. Parry got her trainer's wedding announcement. They registered only at a bank. I didn't even know you could do that.
2. We got a notice on our door telling us we had to take the picture of Jesus out of our window.
3. I'm seeing more and more shirtless men walking around Newark. So good.

I found the perfect missionary song. "How will they know" in the primary book. Look up the words. It ties in perfectly with the themes this last conference.

I love you all and I want you to know you're constantly in my prayers. Thanks for all the letters and emails-- It sure makes the week go much more smoothly when I'm reminded of my family's love for me! :)

The gospel is true!!

Love,
Sister Chelsea LeSueur <3

"...I'm sure He'll call His little ones to gater 'round His knee"

2010-04-05T11:43:00.000-05:00

Hello my wonderful, treasured, amazing, eternal family!

Hello from your much uplifted and edified sister missionary up here in The Ohio-- and Happy Easter! What a wonderful week it has been, I feel as though I could just BURST with love and happiness! A few big ticket items--

Bob is NOT dead. We got a call from him at 7:00 am Friday morning and he said,
"Hello, girls! There was a note on my coffee table that it was the Newark Police Department who kicked in my door, and I called them, and they told me to call you because it was you who was worried. There was a missing person's report out on me and everything! I just was in Kentucky, listening to country music-- because they have good country music down there and I like it a lot! I ran out of money though, so I had to wait 'till the first of the month to come back home!"
How crazy is that!? haha, We're just glad he's alive and well and uplifted from all those country tunes and back in Newark so we can get back to teaching him!

Happy Birthday to Kevin, Congrats to Wes on the mission call, and yay for new babies for Kristen, Connie, Heather, and Amy! What an exciting time in our cute little Jones Family-- Thanks for keeping me updated, Grandma and Mom!

Sister Parry and I are able to work together for another transfer... I've officially made it through one of my12 transfers, and I'm no longer the newby! We were able to go to transfer meeting on Thursday, and I saw Sister Whitney there, as well as Elders Hansen and Haws. We're all doing so well! We got a ride from the RS president in our ward who attends the temple on the first and third Thursdays every month along with a few other women in our ward. They're all of retirement age, and they were the funniest women to ride with. They were cracking jokes about the mess our country's in, they were teasing each other, and they all have this Thelma and Louise 'air' about them-- I'll send a picture home! It made me think of my two cute grandmas and their faithful temple attendance!

I've made it a goal to be able to play the piano by the end of my mission. We've been spending preparation days at the church, and I'm teaching myself how to play 'I am a Child of God'. By the end of this week, I should have it down pat, and I'll send a tape home with it! I just love the idea of being able to play hymns at church or being able to serenade my future kids on the piano. I'm going to do this :)

I was so thankful for the awesomeness that ensued this weekend. General Conference is always awesome, but when you're a missionary it's amazing times a thousand!! Is there any question now how important it is to teach our children? I am so thankful for the prophet, the apostles, and all the other church leaders who guide us in all we should do! Between sessions yesterday, S. Parry and Elders Carrinder and Howell and I dyed easter eggs! It was a blast and now we have yummy hardboiled eggs for the next week or so!

I know the church is true, I know Thomas S. Monson is a prophet of God, I know our Savior lives, and I know as we teach our children about Him, we will ensure strong leaders in tomorrow's church! The gospel is true, and I love all of you! :)

Love,
Sister Chelsea LeSueur

Please forward to Lance, Bethany, and Michelle

Lance- I got your email-- I love you... Letter soon :)
Bethany-- Your wedding date is OFFICIALLY on my 6-week planner! HOLY COW!!!

"Cherish Virtue-- God will bless the pure in heart!"

2010-03-29T12:52:00.001-05:00

Hello Wonderful Family!

What a wonderful week this has been up here in The Ohio! The complete highlight of the week was Saturday at 2:00 when Nancy Abernathy was baptized by proper authority a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints! The day went smoothly and there was such a wonderful spirit in attendance. There was a great turnout, and already Nancy is making friends who will be there to help her acclimate to her new life sans Earl but with the gospel! We met with her last Tuesday, and she made the comment, "Maybe I needed to be with Earl even though everything went South so I could be introduced to the gospel..." YES NANCY!!! YES!!! It was great. Yesterday, after she was confirmed with the Holy Ghost, she was glowing. I asked her if she would write down the feelings she had been feeling since her baptism and after her confirmation, and she promised. I am so proud of her... I just know her life is going to be immeasurably blessed. She brought with her to her baptism Saturday two of her best friends who were nothing but supportive of her and her 14 year old granddaughter. Nancy is going to be the spark all her friends and family need to bring them the gospel!

In other news, I found out people hunt for food... because they need to. NOT necessarily because they want to make deer jerky or whatever. There are lots of people who hunt up here because they can't afford meat. Wow, who knew?! Oh, and I had vennison at dinner with the Crook family yesterday. It tasted just like potroast. The Crooks also have chickens and baby chicks... I got to hold one. I WANT chickens!

I learned how to play Book of Mormon Stories on the piano. I am determined, on my p-day, to learn how to play at least a few key songs. I'll send a recording :)

Sister Parry and I got to watch the YW Broadcast. It was awesome and totally set the tone for me for conference. Speaking of Conference. it is this weekend! I'm so excited... Be there or be square!

I'm sorry this email is so short, but I'm out of time. Know that I love you all. The gospel is true, and through the atonement, we can all return to live with our Heavenly Father again one day. I love you-- The gospel is true!

Love,
Sister Chelsea LeSueur

"I know that my Redeemer lives. What comfort this sweet sentence gives..."

2010-03-22T10:38:00.001-05:00

Dear wonderful family,

Happy spring! Although, June tells me you're not having much of a spring in Texas... What's up with all this snow?! It's been delightfully raining and 60* up here-- y'all need to get with the program!

It's really been a great week here-- I spent Thursday, Friday, and Saturday battling a little bit of a tummy bug, so our weekend wasn't super productive. Saturday morning, I asked the Newark elders for a blessing, and they were nice enough to meet us at the church building to do it. The priesthood is awesome, and I'm so thankful for it! We then went to a youth baptism for Isaiah Barrick. His dad is in the military and has been deployed for a long time. He has leave for two weeks, and so it was so awesome to watch his dad, a worthy priesthood holder who is fighting for our country, be able to perform this saving ordinance for his son. It made me reflect back to my own baptism and how grateful I am I had a daddy who was able to do that for me.

Yesterday, I experienced my first real rude rejection... and it was at church from an active member, no less! Saturday, Sister Parry and I were going to a part of our area that we don't go to very often, Buckeye Lake, and we were going to go contacting down there. Well, we consulted our ward list to see who lived that way that we could visit and this elderly lady was really the only one, so we thought we would pop in to say hello. Well, Sister Parry, as politely as she could, tried to describe this dear sister as being a little less than cheerful-- but I wouldn't listen. After driving around trying to find her place, we just felt like we shouldn't drop in on her. So when we saw her at church yesterday, I approached her (cheerfully) to ask if it would be ok for us to stop by next time we were in the area, to which she responded very coarsely, "Don't come by, I don't want you to come over." "Oh! OK!" I said, and we kept walking down the hall. Hahaha, Sister Parry tried to tell me... So there you have it-- my first real rejection! I sort of felt like Polyanna with the grumpy old sick woman!

Nancy's baptism is going to happen this Saturday at 1:00. She was at church yesterday, sitting by us, and when Bishop Williams announced it over the pulpet, she just beamed with excitment! I am simply extatic for her... I just know this is what she's been looking for, and there's a peace about her now that wasn't quite there when we first started meeting with her. She didn't come to church last Sunday and then she wouldn't answer/return our calls, so Wednesday after our Zone Confrence/Mission Tour with Elder Evans of the Seventy we stopped by her house and there we found a very frazzled Nancy. After talking to her a bit we found out she and Earl got into a huge fight over the weekend and she just couldn't bring herself to church Sunday feeling as angry as she did. She was concerned she shouldn't get baptized if she was capable of feelings like that. All of a sudden I heard myself saying words with such conviction, telling her not to get discouraged and putting off her baptism was not what God wanted, but rather it was what Satan wanted. I spoke to Nancy with no fear, and after she agreed she still needed to get baptized on the 27th and we left, it hit me that the words I was saying weren't coming from me. Heavenly Father knew what she needed to hear and was able to soothe her nerves through me. It was so humbling to see myself be a tool in the Lord's hands.

Wednesday night, we had dinner at the Walkers not too far from Nancy's house, and I felt prompted to ask Sister Walker to come with us to the appointment we had at Nancy's the next day, and so she did. Wow, when we got there, we were teaching the third lesson and when we began to talk about repentance/forgiveness, it was clear why Sister Walker needed to be there-- she was able to relate experiences to Nancy to help her understand the need to forgive Earl. She was the exact right person for that lesson, and I was so thankful I was privy to and acted on that prompting.

The gospel is true, the work is great, and I know that my Redeemer lives.

Thanks for the prayers and the love, I feel them every day! Bundle up and Stay warm all you Texans!

Love,
Sister Chelsea LeSueur

Lance--
Happy 4th Anniversary on the 24th-- I sent your card today :)

You can live a happy life in this world of toil and strife, if there's sunshine in your heart!

2010-03-15T13:38:00.001-05:00

Hello all you wonderful, happy people!

Thanks for the letters and emails this week, I feel so loved and well connected. It is so great to get uplifting things from you all! Mom, the pictures were great... way to go documenting things when I'm not there, and Cam, I just loved that video. Could little Miss Audrey get any dang cuter!??!

First and most importantly, CONGRATULATIONS Cody and Caitlin! I'm so happy and excited for this new step in your life... I would love to get a wedding announcement!!

Things here in the Ohio are super... We're sort of in a holding pattern right now, A few possible investigators have popped up in the last week. I finally met Eddie's mom, Pat. She's in a rest home right now withdrawing from all the prescription pain/anti-depressant/sleep medications her doctors have taken her off of. That's our over-prescribed country for you though! She's wonderful, and she wants so badly to live a better life. We will have the opportunity to visit her in this rest home every day for the next month. I am so thankful for this time I can devote to service! It always makes her face light up to see us!

Tevin is still spectacular. She is finding that she can trust in God because he is the one being who will NEVER let her down. I just wish she realized her divine nature and individual worth. I am so thankful for the young womens program that drilled this into me when I was a young angsty teenager!

In other news, Bob may or may not be dead. It's been two weeks since we heard from him/he's been home. The police went and searched his apartment to make sure he wasn't dead on the bathroom floor, and they (luckilly) turned up empty-handed. No one knows where he could be, we pray daily for his safety.

This Wednesday we have our Mission Tour Conference Elder Evans of the seventy will be speaking to us, and in preparation for that I have been reading a lot in the scriptures. I never realized haw missionary-action-packed the entire book of Alma is. Holy cow. What I love about that story is how bad they started out and in a truly repentant way, how good they became and how many souls they brought unto Christ. Isn't it great how we can utilize the atonement and repent when we need to and its as if out infractions never even happened!? I am so thankful for the atonement of Jesus Christ. I particularly love the story of the prison walls tumbling down in Alma 15. Read it and realize the power we have through our unwavering faith. Faith is power. Never forget that-- we have power according to our faith!

I love you all a ton, stay strong in the gospel, and always work to increase your faith! Remember-- if you're not moving forward, you're moving backward!

Love you all forever and for always,
Sister Chelsea LeSueur

"...They are generous and brave; They have precious souls to save; They must listen and obey the gospel's sound."

2010-03-08T12:45:00.001-06:00

Greetings from Ohio where the sun is shining and the sky is beautiful!

I just loved reading all of your emails! Thanks for the cards and letters this week, it really helps to hear from my wonderful family-- it totally lifts my spirits!

Audrey turns one this week, and I am so sad I'm missing the no doubt awesome day you'll all have celebrating her birth! Hopefully the weather will be nicer this year than it was last year!

How is my blog? Is someone keeping it updated? You could maybe scan some of the pics and put them up to sort of document as we go with emails and letter excerpts, etc. Bravo to you if you already are though :)

I really am just loving the people up here... Here are some broad generalizations about the Newarkians: +Everyone smokes
+Everyone has at least one cat
+People have these cute wooden baskets in their front lawn they use as planters. Way cute. I want one.
+Most people have these little geese on their porch that they dress up. Kind of cute. A little Creepy.
+Rapture balls. look them up.
+A lot of people have porch swings... if they dont though, they just stick an old couch on their porch. Everyone is very resourceful!

This week we met Tevin (like Kevin with a 'T'<-- as per Sister Parry). She's a senior in high school and she's had a super duper rough eighteen years. When school was canceled because of all the snow, she spent her time on mormon.org growing a testimony. We taught her the first lesson Friday night and asked her if she would get baptized when she knew it was true. She said, "Well, see, the thing is, I kind of know it's true already." AHH!!! So, this is what being a missionary feels like! She technically lives in Zanesville, so she isn't actually ours, but we met her because her best friend is in our ward-- so we'll see what happens with her! Keep her in your prayers though, as she is having to overcome a lot of dark personal trials.

My other 'good news minute' has to do with Nancy who is in her 60's and married to a less active member (for the last 18 years) He's leaving her in June to re-marry the woman he's divorced twice... But she is still solid and decided yesterday she wants to get baptized on March 27!!! She also has a lot of hard things in her life to deal with, but I know she's receiving so much strength from the Lord.

I have to go, but I love you all so so much. I'll write more in letters today <3

All my love,
Sister Chelsea LeSueur

PS- when you send me my glasses (hopefully ASAP) please send my churchy CDs. Ipods have been outlawed, and I'm so over the 5 CDs we have :)

Lance-- Send this to SUE vis Email, please

Sue,
Thanks so much for thinking of me--- I'm serving a mission for my church in Ohio until next summer... So I'll be out of commission for a bit! Tell the kiddos "hi" for me, and good luck with the trips out of town! I miss you guys, and think of you often!

Love,
Chelsea LeSueur

Oh, Hi-- O!

2010-03-01T14:34:00.001-06:00

Hello all the wonderful people I love!

I just loved getting all the great emails this when I checked my email today... I was beginning to think only Lance and TickTock loved me because they're the only people I've heard of in the two weeks I've been in the Ohio! Sister Parry was concerned my family no longer wanted anything to do with me, and I kept defending you all saying, "I'm sure they're just busy..." but when I checked the mail today and STILL nothing, I was beginning to wonder! Thank goodness there were a few emails waiting for me here. Some snail mail love spread throughout the week would be nice though :)

Anywho, I'm really thrilled to hear that everything is going well on the homefront... Audrey is walking!??! HOLY COW!! Sister Parry says you can send me videos. I won't hear sound... but I would love to see little miss priss walking! How are the rest of the Jensens doing? And yay for the new sales person. I'll bet she's making things easier/less spread out for everyone. How is Newport doing as a whole? Is everyone's health good?

Things are sailing along smoothly up here! Sister Parry and I make up the women's section in the ward choir... Hopefully we'll be able to recruit a few more girls. It's funny because we have a lot of boys! I've NEVER seen that happen in ANY choir! Also, us and the Newark elders want to do an open house in the spring. It's still in the early planning stages, but I would love any suggestions/ideas you all have seen in ours/other open houses. What is the general layout?

Speaking of Sister Parry, she really is super great. I love her so much-- we are having such a wonderful time up here doing the Lord's work!

We have this really great potential investigator, Eddie Compton, and his mother has been taught by missionaries for a long time. She recently moved in with Eddie and that's how Sister Parry and companion found her. She's been having some health troubles, and so I think it's opened Eddie up quite a bit. We were visiting with him yesterday, and he was telling us about the situation and was really distraught over it, even though he isn't actually investigating, I felt prompted to share with him a BofM scripture on enduring to the end and the benefits of trials and how Heavenly Father is aware of him, and Sister Parry asked if we could leave him with a list of other comforting scriptures. He said yes, so we did, and about an hour later he called us asking for help clarifying an Alma scripture. He then went on to talk about how much he liked one in Mosiah, and it was a wonderful experience. I just know he has such great potential-- He kind of reminds me of the big tall bald picture taking guy in our Plano stake... name?!

My time is about up-- I'll write more in letters to you all, and I'll send them this week! The letter from last week will be stuck in there as well-- last Pday was cut short, so there was no time!

I love you all so much, and I pray for you daily... multiple times! Stay safe and healthy :)

Love,
Sister Chelsea LeSueur

Bethany-- Letter is soon to come... :) :) :)

Lance-- We ate at Buffalo Wild Wings this week. I thought of you!

P to the S.
This is Sister Parry & your daughter/sister/whatever she is to you is a bit of a fibber. I DID NOT tell her, or be concerned that her family did not love her. What really went down is that she thought you all (y'all) didn't love her & I kept telling her that this is normal & she shouldn't be worried, you're all busy people. Then I told her that this stage only lasts a bit cause eventually you tell your family that you really want the mailbox to actually have something, then they send you mail!! Yay!!!! She is awesome and I love her :)

"There's nothing wrong with Ohio... Except the snow and the rain!"

2010-02-22T09:48:00.001-06:00

Haha, just kidding-- I couldn't resist a Bowling For Soup reference! Ohio is really great! I've totally enjoyed my first almost week here! Our flight from Denver to Columbus was delayed because we were on a little plane and we were 450 pounds overweight, so it took us about an hour to get settled and take off. Good thing the flight was only an hour, otherwise we would have been really behind on our 'new missionary orientation' schedule for the evening! BTW-- EVERYONE was amazed at my one suitcase and my one caryon. I packed less than ALL of the elders :)

That night at the mission home, we had the best food I had had in three weeks, and I think I got the best night's sleep I had gotten in three weeks as well! (Not to mention the best shower!) But, when I woke up with my head and face unbearably cold and shivering at 2:30 in the morning, I really began to wonder what I had gotten myself into... I guess that's what nightcaps are for?

President and Sister Jensen are really great! I enjoyed getting to know them that first night! Oh, and Brother Malouf was telling me before I left about their friends the McFersons who live in Powell, Ohio... He and his wife work in the mission office! I met them my first night here, but I didn't put together they were one and the same until last night!

Thursday morning, we went to the transfer meeting, where I got the all-important debit card I'll have for the next year and a half, and where I met my trainer Sister Parry. She's awesome. Sister Parry is from Bountiful, Utah, and she has been out for just under a year. We're serving in the Moundbuilders ward in Newerk (which is pronounced Nerk, Ahia if you're a local-- and here I was thinking I didn't have to learn a language!) At the transfer meeting we sang hymn #266 (which I conducted) and I don't think I had ever heard that song before that day! Such a good missionary song. Look it up! Some of the elders sand a special number 'If I Could Be' Look that up too-- apparently there are videos of it on youtube-- its about if I could be like my brother nephi, abinidi, etc. So good.

After transfers, we came up (down? Over? I'm still learning) to Newerk. Just so you know, we serve in mainly Newerk and Pataskala, and a little bit of Granville. Sister Parry's last companion was sick a lot, so I think everyone is really excited for a change!

When we got here I was amazed by the massive icicles that were hanging off of every building. Apparently, everything is bigger in Texas EXCEPT icicles... Ohio takes the cake on that one. I'll have to send you pictures. The houses here are way cute... look them up! They all remind me of little dollhouses! There was also more snow than I've ever seen. It snowed a lot last weekend, but its sort of warmed up since, so now it's starting to melt... but I was amazed at the massive amounts of white!

I've already met some wonderful people here that are being taught. I'm beginning to realize just how BLESSED I've always been. Its a very humbling experience to meet these people and realize how faithful they are despite (or maybe because of?) their temporal blessings.

The ward here is tiny, and when I commented to sister Parry about it, she informed me its one of the bigger wards here in Ahia. They're all such great people. I love it here!

Thanks for sending my sheets-- oh my goodness, they're heavenly. If any of you are ever in the market for flannel sheets, eddie bauer is the way to go.

So as far as my address goes, I'll get the mail sent to the mission home forwarded to me, but I'll be at this address at least for the next six weeks. the address is:
1570 A Crystal Court
Newerk, OH 43055

If you're unsure of my address, things can still be sent to the mission home address, but in order for them to be forwarded, they must be sent through the USPS-- not fedex, UPS, etc. Just FYI :) I would love some mail!

I love you all, and I'm so thankful for the chance I have to be here! Thanks for all your love, support, and prayers-- they're definitely felt and appreciated!

Love, Sister Chelsea LeSueur

Lance-- Be expecting a letter soon... Did you get my VDay letter? Things should get to you a lot faster now that I'm not in the notoriously slow Provo USPS system! I love you :)

Happy Valentine's Day!

2010-02-12T13:40:00.001-06:00

Hello my wonderful family! I hope you're all doing well... I hear it snowed in Dallas yesterday-- I'm completely jealous, Texas snow is so much prettier than Utah snow (or Ohio smow, for that matter) because it's probably melted by now!

Right off the bat, let's get a few matters of business out of the way:
1. Mom, will you please check my wells fargo balance and dearelder it to me immediately so I get it tonight/tomorrow? I need to make sure I have at least 50.00 available for the airport (just in case)
2. Please send my sheets to the mission home today-- the address for packages is
19 Clairdon Drive
Powell, Ohio 43065
phone: 6143548839
3. My fav scripture is Alma 7:32-24 but I also LOVE D&C 38:32 ;)
4. My eye RX is -3.25 in the Left eye and -3.00 in the right eye
5. My flight plan: depart SLC at 705, arr. Detroit 1248, leave Detroit at 320
so, mom and dad, answer your phones? :)

Wow, I've had a dynomite week thus far. It's crazy though, because I started packing today to leave on Wednesday. I sent a box full of my bunders and books and such to the mission home, so pray that it will arrive safely!

The week started off really well with fast Sunday. I was nervous because I've never been awake for so long during a 24 hour fast... I know the lord blessed me though, because I hardly ever felt famished (or about to be famished, for that matter, Cam). We had a really powerful testimony meeting, and we also had a bomb mission conference. It was such an uplifting day!

Sunday night, we went to choir practice where we sang such sweet childrens sons called 'I feel the spirit' and 'The Lord is My Shepherd'. Little did I know at this point of my choral experience what I was getting myself into (more on that later...) The evening commenced with a fireside which was really interesting. Did you know Lehi was a prophet in Jerusalem at the same time Jeremiah (in the OT) was? Wow... The speaker went into a lot of detail outlining this, and if he had been a more dynamic speaker, more people might have been awake to hear his interesting talk! Read Jeremiah 52 to read about the biblical account of the destruction of Jerusalem... Muy interesting-- who knew that was there!?

Another interesting thing I learned about happened yesterday when I learned Lehi needed the plates of brass to know his lineage... Lehi is from the tribe of Menassah. His sons married the daughters of Ishmael who were of the tribe of Ephriam. Menassah and Ephriam were foreordained to prepare the way for the coming of Christ. Then they came to the Americas-- fulfiling the prophesy! The gospel is true!!

So... Fastforward (or rewind) to Tuesday-- We're singing the songs we practiced Sunday in the fireside where Elder C. Scott Grow spoke to us, and I was gotten back at for every time I have ever made fun of a member of the MOTAB who got zoomed in on while they were making a funny face. The camera man, as soon as we began singing, zoomed in right to my face. My face filled to 50 foot screens at the front of the room. I didn't know this though, till later when my roommies, companions, district, and just about everyone else told me it happened! I guess its a good thing I didn't see myself though, cuz I dodnt think I could have kept a straight face!! I guess the fact I was having a good hair day is what prevented me from being mortified when I found out!

So, Wednesday morning, I woke up with a terrible tummy ache. We didn't work out, when we went to breakfast, I asked Elders Satchwell and Pierce to give me a blessing. They did, and by lunch I felt quite a bit better, and by dinner, I had almost forgotten about the incedent all together! I'm so grateful for priesthood blessings. They remind me our Heavenly Father is very aware of me and what a need :)

This morning, we walked, in the snow, to the temple and there we did initiatories. It was wonderful! We then ran into sister Itri's mom. It's amazing how small the world it (especially in the temple!) She was telling me she has been dating Brother Rabe (from Carrollton-- I guess he and his wqife divorced, and now he lives up here!) We also had breakfast in the temple. DELICIOUS belgian waffles there :)

I miss you all right now, and I can't wait to hear from you. I pray for you all every day, and I definitely feel the prayers that are said in my behalf! I Love you!

sister lesueur

please sent to
lance, bethany, and michelle

P-day is here!

2010-01-30T12:27:00.001-06:00

...Rather P-time. We only have 'till seven tonight after the class this morning, lunch, 6:00AM workout class, and study time.

Things really are great here. I'm really loving my companions-- Sister Itri from Fruit Heights, Utah and Sister Whitney from St. George. Sister Itri is actually going to Omaha, along with two other elders from our district-- but sister Whitney and I will be Columbus buddies for the next eighteen months!The elders in our district are great... They don't seem like 19-year-old boys at all... most of the time! There are 4 elders plus me and Sister Whitney going to Columbus and 2 elders plus Sister Itri going to Omaha.

President Uchtdorf just happened to be here for our new missionary meeting-- apparently in the tree years my teacher has been here, a member of the first presidency hasn't ever welcomed the new missionaries. I felt so blessed! He came in and told us we are the arm of the 12 apostles. Wow.

I can't believe its only been three days since you dropped me off and I was trying so hard not to cry. It feels like it's been a week at least! I have learned so much, and my body has adjusted quite nicely to the 5:40-10:30 schedule! I know there are angels sent from Heavenly Father with the specific putpose to pump energy and enthusiasm into me, because I couldn't keep this schedule by myself!

The food is pretty good here-- so far nothing I have loved (except for the build your own wrap bar) but I could definitely see how one could gain the 'MTC 15'!

The MTC book store is so awesome. You know how I feel about office supplies-- and they have them in abundance! I've been trying to practice self control :)

So far, I've had three epiphanies--
1.) Jesus didn't just visit North America-- He visited other lands, too!Therefore, there are other records similar to the BOM. I don't have the scripture right now.. but I'll send it in my letter. That hit me last night. Wow.

2.) When the Lord removed various blessings of the gospel from the earth during the various apostacies, it was a tender mercy. He did it when the people were wicked and not listening to the prophets... So, rather than continuuing to hold them accountable for their disobedience generation after generation, he removed the prophet or the melchezadic priesthood, etc. to prepare the hearts of future generations to receive the foreordained prophets for their dispensation! Similar to excommunication. The lord is so merciful.

3.) I'm serving my mission in the midwest-- a historically significant area (kirtland, Nauvoo, etc.) and the area also has future significance (the gathering of Israel). I have been called to prepare an area for that time. What a humbling thought!

I hope all is well with you all. I miss you and pray about you often! I know the Lord blesses us and will continue to bless us as we do His will and follow the commandments. The gospel is true!

All my love,
Sister Chelsea LeSueur

Mom-- please send me a ward list and another long skirt or two... it's cold up here! <3

Trev-- I Love you... You're going to LOVE the MTC

Cam-- I LOVE that Audrey is clapping!

Daddy-- I can see why the Mission is so special to you

Kevin-- Study hard and good luck!

send this to everyone, please!

From Here on Out...

2010-01-27T11:36:00.001-06:00

I'm turning my blog over to my mom. If there's a hiatus-- take it up with her :)

Salt Lake and the Maloufs

2010-01-27T11:30:00.002-06:00

Today, we were going to go to Salt Lake to go to the Lion House for lunch and to the Salt Lake temple for a session. Both were closed. So instead...

We took pictures outside the temple

And ate at the garden room!

We also saw the Joseph Smith film at the JSMB. I highly recommend it!

Tonight we met up with Jordan and Bethany at Cafe Rio. I missed them and i missed the Rio Salad! We had a great time!

I got lots of good advice from both of them... I sure am going to miss these two!

Besties since third grade!

Bye you guys... Love you :)

"Do the Mormon Rap..."

2010-01-27T00:08:00.001-06:00

Baking Brownies

2010-01-25T22:43:00.003-06:00

Jared and Melissa are so hospitably letting us stay at their house 'till I report to the MTC on Wednesday and my two companions fly home to Texas. Tonight we had Family Home Evening, so Jared and Mackayla made brownies for the treat!

Jared measured

Mackayla stirred

...and Bradley licked the bowl!

They're such a cute family!
Thanks for letting us crash with you guys in your wonderful new house!

DOWN in Manti

2010-01-25T22:36:00.000-06:00

Manti, Utah is home to My uncle Jay and his wife, Danon, The Manti Temple, and the Mormon Miracle Pageant!

After we arrived in Utah, we headed down south about two hours to this fun little town. When we got there, we were greeted by this cute little motel...

It's just reminding all who come into town to C.T.R.-- or Choose the Right! What a great reminder!

This temple was the third operating temple, and it was dedicated on May 23 {my half birthday} of 1888. And it is just stunning! My mom, dad, Aunt Danon, and I went to the 5:30 session Saturday night. The inside woodwork is completely breathtaking!

Super Cute!

Group shot!

Sunday, we went to their 9 o'clock church meeting, came home, snacked, napped, and talked, and then went to my cousin Celeste's home in Moroni.

Shalynn made Zupas tomato soup with pasta... It was SO yummy!

Celeste made fresh bread, and when we walked in the door, her house smelled just like a bakery!

Piper got a manicure from Abby and Janey... Lucky duck!

And here she is again... Just too cute-- especially since she shares my birthday!

The family that bakes together, stays together! This is one that will be together forever! :)

We left Monday morning to head up to Provo, but...

We had so much fun in Manti Saturday and Sunday...
Thanks, you guys, for such a great time!

I Love the Bookstore!

2010-01-25T19:39:00.001-06:00

After lunching it up with Michelle, my two companions and I went to the BYU Bookstore where we saw all sorts of neat things!

I absolutely LOVE this quote!

Daddy found a hat to keep him warm at soccer games!

And on our way out, we saw these ducks... just playing in the snow by the Wilkenson Center. I LOVE ducks!

We also got the obligitory MTC pictures by the entrance!

Two more days and counting!

Michelle... My Bell!

2010-01-25T17:38:00.001-06:00

Michelle and I were roommates at King Henry my sophomore year first semester-- we were fast friends, and two of the three that made up S3!

She married Patrick two Decembers ago, and I was lucky enough to be able to spend time with her down in Dallas when they moved there for the last year! This semester, they moved back up here, and so we went to Zupas {one of our favorite lunch places} for a 'see ya later' lunch!

I just adore her-- She has such a sweet spirit about her, she always tries at everything she does, and she is one of those people who is just fun to be around!

loves!

Bye, Michelle...
I'll see you in a year-and-a-half-- Don't forget to write! :)

So, Utah... We Meet Again!

2010-01-23T22:28:00.001-06:00

Saturday morning came waaay too early, and after staying up all night to finalize my packed suitcase and clean my mess of a room, we made it to the airport at about 8:20 for our 9:30 flight.

This was taken just before bidding 'adieu' to Cam, Trev, and Lance. Kevin and Audrey were still sawing logs at this point... and who could blame them? It was rather early!

There are two notable things about this picture:

1.) I am wearing not one, but TWO coats along with my snow boots

2.) I have one checked suitcase, one small carry-on suitcase, and a messenger bag for the next year-and-a-half. My dad made the comment, "You've packed less for your mission than you have for most two-week vacations!"
Can I get some applause, please? :)

We landed in Salt Lake, and after sleeping lightly {or not at all!} the night before, we were all exhausted. We stopped at Hires Big H for some super chilled rootbeer in a mug and burgers. mmm... delicioso!

... Here we go!

Farewell to Dallas

2010-01-23T21:31:00.000-06:00

It all started Thursday night at our church building when I was set apart as

Sister LeSueur

We all gathered together in President Alleman's office at 7:30. The whole gang was there plus Brother Bowman who Lance home taught with my Dad once.

Group Shot!

After the 'setting apart', Audrey {who was so cute} was just too happy to get out of her dress!

Dessert was a cake that looked like a missionary name tag. Cam and Kevin are too creative!

Friday was my going-away party. It was so much fun to see all those I love there to wish me well!

The Floyds were there... I've known them since forever!

...and so were the Thrashers. I love these two!

The Prosper Relief Society was in attendance-- What wonderful ladies!

Linda Higbee and I are kindred spirits... One of the little girls kept giving her necklaces :)

I love these little ones!

I made snowman cake pops to match my 'winter wonderland' theme...

They turned out pretty cute!

We also served:

Chicken cordon-bleu
Chicken-salad croissants
Mini quiche
Spinach-artichoke dip with toasted bread rounds
A veggie tray

After the party, Trevor and Kaylee came home and helped finish off the food.

...bread-bowl and all!

Audrey was just so tired after entertaining all night!

so we rock-a-byed!

Trevor and his new main-squeeze

Since I was set apart, Daddy ensured Lance and I kept the proper distance after the party ;)

Nancy Vrska and Carla Scott quilted me this beautiful quilt with wool batting. In the corner it says,

Chelsea LeSueur
Ohio Columbus Mission
2010 - 2011
"I'll go where you want me to go, dear Lord"

...I LOVE it!

We've had a really fun couple of days!

Guess what came in the mail today...

2010-01-21T11:35:00.004-06:00

Grandma Jones knitted me a scarf to keep me warm in Ohio, and IT CAME TODAY!!!

I LOVE IT so much--

Thanks, Grandma!
I'm so glad I know someone SO talented!

My bracelet

2010-01-20T00:51:00.001-06:00

My charm bracelet is one of my favorite things in this world! So, knowing this, my wonderful family got me a couple of charms to have with me when I'm away from them!

It's getting full... I love it!

Lance gave me this puzzle piece charm for two reasons.
1) I "complete him" haha
2) I'm worried I'm going to get Alzheimers when I'm older because I hate puzzles, sudoku, crosswords, etc. which are all the things you're supposed to do to keep your mind fresh-- so, he said he would help me out with them and get me to love them!

Cam, Kevin, and Audrey gave me the Dutch snowflake charm. It's to help me remember that underneath the snow, are the flowers that will eventually come up, because winter always gives way to spring :)

And Mom, Dad, and Trevor gave me this Texas charm, because my heart does, and always will belong to Texas!

I just LOVE these charms, and I'm so thankful to have such thoughtful people who love me!

Deck the Halls

2010-01-19T11:47:00.002-06:00

My mama began collecting ornaments when Tick-Tock would give her ornaments for us kiddos, beginning when my sister was a baby. The tradition was perpetuated when we went to San Antonio as a family in November of 1993 and she bought ornaments-- one for each of us. This whole thing sort of came full circle when, in San Antonio with Lance, I bought my own ornaments for my future Christmas tree!

There are two of them-- the first one says,
"The stars At Night Are Big and Bright..."

and the second one says,

"Deep in the heart of TEXAS!"

Tradition and Texas pride...
They're beautiful things! :)