Sister Chelsea Gehring: Optimism!

Dear Family,

This week has been really great! My mission president has been putting a huge emphasis on being optimistic lately so I have been trying to put that to heart and it is making all the difference. Its not like I was being pessimistic before but its just that now I am making it a priority. And the difference is amazing! We have been talking about how optimism is more than just having a good attitude or being happy. Its keeping an eternal perspective even when things get rough.

The week started off with us teaching a nice little family. They don't speak too much English but they are looking for the truth so I am excited to see how they progress. Then on Wednesday we taught two sisters who are just adorable. They are YSA age and they are so great. Their names are Sherrifah and Prudence. Once they learned about a modern day prophet they were really excited. We told them about General Conference and they were super eager to come. Funny story with them, though. So we were seeing them at noon and we had appointments for the rest of the day so we weren't going to be able to get lunch after we saw them. So we decided to eat before we went over. We went to this place called Hungry Lion for lunch. Its kind of like KFC. So by the time we went to their house we were really full. So we taught them and it was good and everything. then right after we prayed, Sherrifah brought us each a HUGE plate of food. It was rice and stew. It was so yummy but I was soooooo full. I was able to eat most of it but towards the end, I took a bite and I felt it start to come back up. At that point I decided to stop. The whole thing was pretty funny.

Because Im an STL now we go on exchanges with all the sisters in our Zone. So I went to Sister Jaker's area with her one day this week. It was fun because she was in my MTC group. I have seen her a few times since I got here to Zambia but this was the first time I'd seen her teach. Its amazing how much people grow on mission.

This week President Erickson came and met with our district and talked to us about the vision of the mission. He told us that 20 years ago there was only 2 branches in all of Zambia and Malawi. Now there are over 20 branches, 3 districts and one of those districts is about to be a stake! Then we talked about how if that same rate of growth continues, in 20 yrs there will be over 200 branches/wards, 20 stakes, and a temple. Amazing huh? It gives a really cool sense of purpose to our work! It makes me excited to be here!

My favorite scripture of the week is D&C section 18. Its one we read a lot in the church but as I read it again this week I just loved it again.

Well I love you all so much! Have a great week!

Love, Sister Gehring

Me and all the Ugandan elders that were in MLC.

Mission Leadership Council, April 2014

This is me and Sister Vea this morning. She came out of the bathroom and I came out of the bedroom and we realized we were matching...sort of... Black skirts, blue shirts, bun on the top of the head, and our headbands and cardigans are the inverse of each other! Companionship unity at its finest.