A Quick Update...

Elder Chidester and Elder Miller have had an awesome week! On Sunday, they were able to baptize two girls, Carla and Emma Vela. They will be confirmed this Sunday (the 24th.) They are also teaching a woman named Jackie, who is originally from California. She felt like something was missing in her life, and she remembered living around a bunch of LDS people back in Cali. She had a great experience with them, so she got on mormon.org and was able to chat with a missionary who called the Bishop in her area. Elder Chidester and Elder Miller were able to meet with her! (: Technology is so amazing... but the Gospel is even more amazing!

Elder Chidester said his mission has been going through a lot of changes recently. He says that they've been raising the bar, which is excellent! He said the way things run and missionary work itself is changing and improving. He's really excited about the changes and said things are a lot more successful! We're so blessed to know about the Gospel and God's love for us! It just makes things better. Have a great week, everyone! (:

[Pictures of baptisms coming soon!]

 

Liberty Jail

This week, the Elders had a chance to go to Liberty Jail with the Sprenkles. They had a lot of fun, and the Sprenkle family took them to Red Robin afterward to eat. Elder Chidester and Elder Miller are also working with a part member family with two daughters who want to be baptized, so that will also be coming up soon! (: They also had a conference this past week with Elder Kevin W. Pearson. Elder Chidester said it was a very influential meeting, and Elder Pearson talked about having the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost. He is working super hard, and is loving every minute of his mission! Here are some more pictures of the past week...

Too Much Fun!! (:

What?? Another post? So soon?! This has to be some sort of record! (; This week has been a great week for Elder Chidester and Elder Miller! They baptized two kids last weekend named Mia and Michael, (ages 8 & 9, pictures coming soon) and were very excited about it! Elder Chidester said these two kids are outstanding people, and such great examples! The Elders also got to spend some time with the wonderful Sprenkle family! What a neat bunch! Vicki Sprenkle took some more awesome pictures, and here they are! (:

He's such a goof. (: Have a great weekend, all!

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. (: