A Plethora of Pictures!

Greetings, all! I FINALLY got some pictures from Elder Chidester today! I was super excited! He has been a very busy boy and doesn't have time for silly things such as sending pictures. (; Actually, the mailman just hasn't been very reliable lately. We're gonna drop kick him next time we see him probably. Anyway! Lots has happened in the world of Elder Chidester recently! He's had quite a few baptisms and lots of investigators! Transfers were recently, and he stayed in Kansas City. He did get a new companion named Elder Miller. They're working hard and are loving every minute of what they are doing! (: Now for the good part... STORIES!! :D

This is a story I probably should have told the minute it happened... it was crazy and I probably can't do it justice so I'm just gonna let Justin tell you. A-HEM! In his words...

"Story time. It's 9:10 at night (this is in Manhattan by the way), and we are getting home for the night. I get to our apartment (on the top, aka 3rd floor of the complex). I go in, get a drink and put it away. About three minutes have passed, then we hear this loud destructive mass of catastrophe outside. We're like... "hmm, weird." So we look outside, over the rail, and we see a CAR lodged into the side of our apartment building where the stairs are! It was super epic! The car was still running and revving, smoke everywhere. People running around in slow motion (it really happened!) There were no signs of life in the car. Someone kicks the car door open and comes barreling out of the smoke with an AK47........ okay, no one did that, but how intense would that have been?! So anyway, back to the story. So there are no signs of life in the car. Someone finally opens the car door and turns the car off. It turns out that some dude was warming up his car and went inside to talk to his friends. His car apparently decided to "take the parking break off itself" and take a joy ride down the hill into the apartment complex. The crazy thing is, was that we came up those stairs only three minutes earlier. So if we would have been a little later it could have hit us. Good thing the Lord has got our backs!"

Here are some pictures of the building (car removed, unfortunately.)

Needless to say, we're pretty glad he and his companion are alive!

On a happier note, here are some pictures of the construction of the K.C. Temple! Super cool! (:

This is a picture of a baptism they had back in... January(?) I believe...
Elder Combs, Kathy Grimlin, Elder Chidester

Another baptism around that same time,
Elder Chidester, Brian Hill, Elder Combs

This isn't relevant, but how cool are these suckers?! :D
He didn't send me one. :( Stinker... (;

The District!

I'm assuming this is on Christmas... Elder Chidester/Spiderman
...and FREDDIE THE LLAMA!! :D

Oh, Freddie. (: I was sorely tempted to keep this little guy,
but you know... I figured he wanted to see Kansas! (:

Elder Chidester's Christmas loot! Woo hoo!

Elder Chidester, Elder Jensen, and rubber ducks...
...Because every missionary has to have some.

Elder Jensen, President and Sister Wangsgaard, and Elder Chidester
(This is where they spent Thanksgiving.)

 Wow.

Today, Elder Chidester has been out for 18 MONTHS!!! 6 months to go! Yay!

Snow, Snow, and MORE SNOW!

Elder Chidester and Elder Combs are having a great time in Kansas City! They’re getting snowed on quite a bit, but that just makes it funner, right? (; They had another baptism on the 22^nd, and are now working with some new investigators. They’re having a lot of success, and a lot of fun in the snow!

Here are a few pictures of their snow days! (Thanks to Vicki Sprenkle for the pictures!)

Elder Chidester is also turning 21 this month!! Remember to wish him a Happy Birthday! (: And we're on the 7 month countdown now! Woo hoo! :D

Recent Happenings!

A lot has happened this past week with Elder Chidester. He was transferred on the 6th to Kansas City, Kansas and is now in the Chapel Hill ward. He has a new companion named Elder Combs. And also is now [drum roll...] District Leader!! Woo hoo! He is super excited and very nervous, but he will do great! They had a VERY busy week this week --they taught around 25 lessons! They have a baptism this Saturday for a woman named Kathy and also a baptism next Saturday for a man named Brian. They are looking forward to the next couple of weeks! Other than that, Elder Chidester and Elder Combs are keeping very busy, and are working as hard as they can!


**Pictures coming SOON!

And, we just passed the 8 months mark... holy cow.

Here is a picture he sent right after New Years...

... I have to say the blonde is growing on me haha. (:

BACK IN BLACK!... Only not...so much...

This is the real deal, ladies and gentlemen... Elder Chidester has chopped his hair off and he's a BLONDIE again! We all knew this day would come... we just didn't know when. (; And here it is!

Elder Chidester and his companion were able to spend Thanksgiving with the Branch President, President Wangsgaard. The lady they've been teaching for a while now was also baptized this last week! Justin was also able to meet Elder Richard G. Scott! He said he was a really neat guy, and it was a great experience! They've hopefully got a few more baptisms in the next few weeks. (:

More Pictures!!

I promised to get more pictures up when they got here, and they got here about three days ago! I'm getting better at not procrastinating!! Woo hoo! (; Some of these pictures are from while Justin was still in Trenton, but there are a few from his current area in Kansas... enjoy! (:

Oh, and just as a sidenote, today he's been out for 14 months!! Hooray! :D

These next two pictures are from his current area:

So this is just the coolest thing ever... No big deal. (:

Manhattan...Kansas?? (:

So it's been three months since I last posted anything on Elder Chidester's blog. I'm horrible, but I promise to do better! Last week, Elder Chidester was transferred to Manhattan, Kansas. He was in Kansas at the very first of his mission, but it was just a tiny town. He is now in the 3rd largest city in Kansas, and is kind of going through a culture shock right now! He is loving it there, though! So that's always good news! He is training his new companion named Elder Jensen. He is from Coconut Creek, FL. They are right next to Kansas State University, and they are over the Manhattan University Single's Ward. So that's definitely a new experience for him! He was pretty sad about leaving Trenton, he had some amazing experiences there and was able to meet a lot of really neat people. However, he is very excited about his new area and is ready to start teaching more people! He's keeping super busy!


Here are some pictures from when he was still in Trenton... he said he'd be sending more soon, so I'll get them up when they get here! (:

Somehow, he still manages to be a goofball every chance he gets. (;

I have absolutely no comment for this picture.

It worked great for a while!... til it fell down.

Just one last thing... are we really almost down to ten months?? Holy cow. Yippee!! :D

New Happenings!

I decided I should probably update this blog right when things happen, but I am a master of procrastination! (: On July 24th, Elder Chidester and Elder Parkinson had a baptism! Kaitlin Parker was baptized and confirmed a member of the church. She has been receiving lessons for about a month. After a lot of fasting and praying, she made the major decision to get baptized! Justin and his companion are so excited for her!

Elder Parkinson, Kaitlin Parker, Elder Chidester

Elder Nester, Kaitlin Parker, Elder Chidester

Here is another picture from a few weeks ago...

This is one of the other Elders in Justin's district.


Elder Chidester and Elder Cuello


And just as a sidenote, Justin received a banjo as a gift... so now he's learning to play the banjo! Exciting! :D