The Letters Continue

The letters are not as heavily coming in as they were before, they still come in.  They come in as they please, each missionary writing when they have the time to write back to me.  It's interesting to see who writes back the quickest and the other ones that take a while to respond.  I understand the time span with each, some are farther away so it takes a long to send and receive, while others are busy with the day to day deeds of missionary work.  I hope that writing me back is not a pressure in their life, I hope it is only a beckon of light that will be able to help them move along the path that they have nobly decided to go on.

Missionary work is probably the hardest, but best, thing to do at this time in life.  Dropping everything they know for two years, to serve our wonderful Lord.  They go to a place they don't know much about, probably a place that is way out of their comfort zone.  Being able to do that and to do it with a smile on their face is a courageous act.  They are amazing young men and young women.

With each letter I receive I smile.  Knowing that they are letters from wonderful people, doing the work the Lord has asked them to do.  They are putting themselves out there for the world to see who they are and what they stand for.  I have great gratitude, appreciation, and respect for those men and women out there in the mission field.

I have written over 57 missionaries, not everyone has written back, but that's okay.  I have had amazing times reading the different letters from the many people that have written back already.  I do not know these missionaries personally, other than three of them, but I have a real and strong love for them.  They are my brothers and sisters in the gospel and my hand of hope, love, and gratitude surely reaches out for them.

Without the missionaries in this world, the Word of God wouldn't be able to spread to all ends of the world. This is a wonderful gospel and it needs to be known by everyone, so they can experience the happiness it can bring to their life.



Here is my testimony of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is a wonderful church, it has wonderful people in it and most importantly it is true.  It is the one and only true church on the earth, Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are two amazing beings that are here to help us along the way of this crazy and painful world.  They haven't left us alone here on the world, even though at times it may feel like it.  Jesus Christ is our brother and we are able to become like him and Heavenly Father, if we do as they ask and do everything to the best of our abilities.  We have the right and to repent of the many sins of the world and become like Him.  Without this Gospel on this planet we would all be doomed to the sins and hatred of this incredible world.

Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father have the power to do anything you can think of and more! All you have to do is believe in Them and trust that they are there for you.  Through thick and thin!  They love you more than anyone else in the world.  And they are the ones that know you better than you even know yourself.  Trust in the Lord and He will be there for you!

I am not afraid to talk about the gospel I believe in, because I know that it is true!

Life Takes a Toll

I have been receiving letters still, I just haven't been able to post on the blog about it.  School as started up again and being a senior in high school makes everything go crazy.  Getting ready for college and making sure that everything is lined up to get into the college that I want to. But life goes on and the missionaries out there are waiting for their reply, (probably not really waiting but they still need a reply)

I got five envelopes about a week ago from my missionaries. So I swore that I only got five missionary replies, but one envelope had two missionary replies in one letter.  It was so funny to read, you could just hear and see the different personalities in the two different hand-writings.

There is definitely a different spirit with each letter I receive.  It is an amazing thing and it will be more amazing as time goes on and I run into the box of letters again.  Rereading these letters in the future is going to be a touching experience.  To remember the work that I am doing right now, to remember the different missionaries that I have been able to talk to and learn about.  I do not plan on throwing away or getting rid of any of these letters.  These letters are special to be even though I don't know many of the missionaries that are writing me.  They have a huge spot in my heart and I love and appreciate them greatly!

I hope these missionaries know the work they are doing is an amazing work and everyone that has written back to me has shown that they do know.  I hope they continue with that knowledge and grow stronger!

Favorite Missionary

Well, I got another reply from a missionary that is quickly becoming my favorite missionary to write to.  He is Elder Tay and I give a great respect and love for him.  He is amazing at making me feel the spirit, it's almost as like he speaks right to my heart.  He is able to write the things that I need to hear and it is amazing.  He is truly doing the Work of God and definitely is letting God work through him.

Our Heavenly Father has a power that can be used for the most amazing miracles and yet he uses it to touch the lives of people like me.  It is an amazing thought that Elder Tay had the feeling that he needed to write me back and now we are having the conversations that would be both pleasing to the Lord and to myself.  I can say that I would love to meet him and I am hoping that we are still writing when he comes back home in two years.

I hope that I will be able to go to his homecoming and then we shall be able to meet in person.  I'm sure that we would know each other pretty well by that time, if we continue to talk the whole time.  It would be an amazing experience to meet him after his mission.

I hope that he is doing well and that everything in his mission will go as he and the Lord plans them to!

Replies Keep on Coming

I got some more replies from some missionaries today.  I only got three for this week, but it's still a good number.  One of them is one that I have already gotten a reply from before and that is Sean.  This is his second time writing back to me and I'm excited for our future letters.  He is already an amazing missionary to talk to, and I am only writing to him.  To see him in person would be amazing, but that won't happen for two years, when he gets back home.  I wonder if I would be able to come back and welcome him home, that would be a fun experience.  I just hope that he lives close around so I would be able to go without troubles.

The other two letters are from too boys from the MTC that I am glad they wrote me back.  Both of their letters made me smile and I look forward to the letters to come from them too if they decide to continue to write me like Sean has.  I love being the missionary writer and I plan on keeping this up for a while.  Exciting times are to come xD

So the three missionaries that I received letters from this week is Sean, Cody, and Elder Hamblin

Newly Written Letters

These three are written again because of the pouch regulations and this is the letter that was taken from their hand written letters and typed up.

August 7, 2011

Dear Elder Kevin/Tyler/Keith

                I know you don’t know me at all, but I thought I would write to you to let you know I am thankful for the work you have done or are going to do while on your mission.   It is a noble and honorable work to do willing with the love and dedication of your heart.  Keep a strong heart and always be pushing forward, for the Lord will be able to help you through anything.  He knows you for who you are and is very proud of the choices you have made, thus far.

                I shall start off with a short introduction of myself, so that you are not writing to a complete stranger.  I am called Chelsea Bastian, I live in Lehi, Utah, and I am 17 years of age.  I am a member of the church and I plan to be going on a mission when I hit that age. I have just recently moved to Lehi, so I don’t feel like I belong here.  I love writing missionaries, because that is when I feel like I am myself and I don’t have to worry about judging faces, eyes, and thoughts.  Missionary work is a big delight in my life.  I love to extend my hand of love and support to all of those that I can, so if you know of any missionary that needs a pick me up, I will be glad to write them.

                It is nice to know that we have strong and noble young men that are willing to give up two years of their life to the Lord.  Thank you for all your hard work and devotion to the wonderful work of the Lord.  You are doing plenty of marvelous things.

JJJRandom Quote- In times of trials, the best thing to do is Smile! JJJ

I would love to hear back from you to learn more about you, your mission, and anything you would like to share with me about the gospel.

From,

Your Earthly Stranger and your Heavenly Sister,

Chelsea Bastian

Replies

Through this last week, I was able to receive a couple replies from missionaries that I have already written.  It was an exciting thing to come home to.  I got a reply from Jarinn, Alex, and Gubeli.  Those three I had written purposefully.  The fourth one is a guy named Sean, he had gotten my letter from the random letters I sent out to the MTC.

Jarinn is my cousin, so I already knew that he would write me back.  His letter was amazing.  It amazes me with how much missionaries are able to write.  Jarinn even drew me a beautiful picture of himself to keep a smile on my face.  I love this boy and I miss him like crazy! But he won't know that I miss him, because I don't want to be a distraction to the wonderful work he is doing.

Alex was one of the first missionaries I wrote randomly.  His reply was short, but it has helped with preparing myself.  Although it's going to take me a little bit longer to write him back, for he gave me something to read.  It was a talk by Elder Bednar, 'Becoming a Missionary.'  Before I can write him back I need to read it so that there can be a little bit of a conversation about it.

Gubeli was one of the nineteen missionaries that started this whole Missionary Writer thing.  He wrote back, thanking for all the letters that he had received.  I am hoping that the more, him and I write the more interesting and helpful his letters will turn out to be.

Sean, his letter was definitely the longest letter of them all and probably my favorite letter of all time, (so far), his letter was welcoming and very helpful.  He is still in the MTC, but that just means that I will be able to write for his whole mission and be able to learn as he learns.  This is going to be an amazing experience.  He has told me that I am more than welcome to continue to write him, which I'm hoping is going to last for the two full years.


I do not know if I will be able to write the random missionary this week, because I have already written back four missionaries.  I will definitely do a random missionary next week, if I don't have any replies by then.

Random Letters to Random Missionaries

I sent out the seven letters that I have recently wrote to some missionaries.  Three of them I know personally and the other four are some people that I found on a missionary site.  I am a little nervous about what they will think when they get a random letter from someone they don't know, but I am hoping that they are welcoming to the letter.  Hoping they will reply too.


The most recent update is the fact that I talked to my cousin Carrie about letters to missionaries because she works in the MTC.  She told me that most of them appreciate it and that if I wanted to, I am willing to write little letters and just send them to the MTC and address them to the mailroom for her to hand out to random missionaries.

This way I'm not just picking and choosing different missionaries.  I will truly be getting random letters from random missionaries.  This is going to be amazing.  Although, I will be typing these letters because they are going to say the exact same thing.  After that, if they reply to the letter, they will all be hand written letters because I feel that hand written gives it more importance.

Below is the letter that I will be sending out to them.



Dear Elder/Sister of the Royal Army of God


     I am Chelsea Bastian, I live in Lehi, Utah and I am of 17 years of age.  I know you don't know me at all, never heard of me before, but I would like to let you know that I am grateful for the choice you have made. There is a lot of respect and gratitude in my heart for the noble choice you have made by becoming a missionary.


 I am writing to let you know that I am thankful for the wonderful and glorious work that you have decided to do.  You have chosen to be in the Royal Army of God and that is something to be proud of.  Stand tall and strong, for the power of Satan shall be trying to take you down.
     It is wonderful to know that we have strong and powerful young men and young women that are willing to give up two years of their life for the Lord.  Thank you for spreading the Light of Christ to the dark areas of the world today.

     Random Quote- In times of Trials, the best thing to do is Smile :)

     
     I would love to hear back from you, I am preparing myself for a mission and would like to have some advice or different ways to better myself.  

From,

Your Earthly Stranger and your Heavenly Sister,

Chelsea Bastian

Update - 14 Elder Letters and 12 Sister Letters being sent to the Provo MTC August 7, 2011

Writing a Few More

I was writing my cousin and two of my good friends that are out on missions at this very moment.  Seeing as I haven't written them in a while and I had some free time to write them.  After I had finished those three letters, I felt like I wanted to write more missionaries.  I love the calm feeling I get when I am writing someone that I know is living the gospel fully and truthfully.

I remember a site that was for missionaries to stay connected with their family, (missionsite.net) I went on there and I searched a few names.  My favorite names were the first names to pop into my head.  Alex and William were the first two I searched up.  Picking the first picture that stood out to me.  I hoping that they are okay with receiving a letter from a girl that they don't know.

Next I decided to search up my last name, Bastian, to see if there was anyone out in the field that could be related to me in the long run.  That is how I found Chase.

Three down, but there was still one more name that I needed to search up.  I couldn't get the name out of my head, Sarah.  I searched the name and looked at the different pictures that popped up.  It took a few minutes before I decided what picture to choose.

Ending the day with seven missionaries written.
Travis, Jarinn, Kaeden, Alex, William, Chase, and Sarah.
Bringing my total of missionaries wrote to... 26

I am still willing to write any missionary that is out in the field, to help them feel loved and supported while out in this crazy world

Starting Out

The idea of becoming a Missionary Writer started out at Girls Camp of 2011.  There was about two hours of free time for each day that we were up at camp.  They had plenty of crafts to do, a pamper area, and then a missionary stand.  At first the thought of writing a missionary I didn't know, didn't sound like a good idea.  I thought it would be a little weird writing someone that I didn't know at all.

Till I thought about it a little bit more...

Those missionaries, nineteen in my stake, gave up two years of their lives for the Lord and the least I can do is write them a letter to thank them for the work they are doing.  By writing them a letter, you are helping the work of the Lord be spread.  Without those missionaries out in the field, preaching the word of God to the world, the gospel wouldn't be able to spread.

So the next time we had the free time, I sat at the missionary station and I wrote every single missionary that was in my stake. It took a while to write all nineteen missionaries, my wrist was sore by the end of it, but it was well worth it.

Now I do not know if they are going to respond to my letters or not, but it would be an amazing experience to be able to get to know these missionaries and learn about what they are doing on their mission.  I am looking forward to the missionaries I will continue to write in the future and the letters that I get in return.