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

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!

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!

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!

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!

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!

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!

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"

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

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"

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!!!