VISITING MEMBERS, CHOREOGRAPHING A DANCE & JUST LIVING LIFE

Hey there! (: So, this week has been good... just living life. We've spent a lot of time this week just visiting and getting to know the members here, which is always my favorite. The members here are so sweet. The other night, we went to Sister Sarah's house and she has a 16 year old daughter, 13 year old, 11 year old son and a 2 year old daughter, and that whole family is just so fun. We are doing a choreographed dance thing for a branch party we are having soon, so that was fun.

And, Daniel, Caren's son, is doing well. He's reading through the restoration track right now before we come back this week. We had a lesson with him just about what we do as missionaries and how we are not here to force him to be baptized because that's kind of what he thought. Be he does want to be baptized. He just wants to keep learning before he makes and promises, which makes sense. He's still coming to church with his mom every week, and he's made a lot of good friends with the other deacons, so things are going well. (:

Only 11 emails left!

Love,

Elder Mikesell

JUST ME BEING SUPER PHOTOGENIC

Just me being super photogenic!

Waterfalls... they were super rad. :D

That about sums up my week. Love yall!

I REALIZED I MIGHT BE THE WORST EMAILER EVER, AHA!

Hey! How are ya? This week's been all right. Just been finding a little bit for some new investigators... but guess what? Caren's son, Daniel, came to her baptism and says he wants to work towards baptism now (: So, that's cool. He's a cool kid and all. He's just your normal 15 year old and was never really interested in joining his om for some gospel lessons with some white kids, aha, but we've gotten to know him better lately, and he joined us for the first lesson the other day (: So, that's good!

Also, Monday was a holiday, and the email place was closed on Tuesday, so that's why I'm emailing on Wednesday. Other than that... we've visited some members. I've been fed a lot lately, so that's great, and transfer calls are in a few days. So, we'll see if I still get Jackson with me. I hope so, he's a cool guy.

I just found out that all the other missionaries send this big group email to like 80 people full of what they did everyday of the week, a trial they overcame, some "super spiritual" experience, and like a scripture they found that week (and more) and I realized that I might be the worst emailer ever, aha! A lot of that seems kind of fake to me, though, like it seems forced if you do it every week... or maybe I'm just a bad emailer. Sorry about that.

Anyways, I love ya and hope you're livin life to the fullest! aha!

Love,

Chase (:

CAREN'S BAPTISM!

Heyyy! This week has been good (: My pictures kind of sum up everything, so that's nice. It was awesome seeing Caren so happy at her baptism. She really is awesome, and she has some sons too, that we are hoping we can teach now, too.

Caren's baptism was last Saturday, and it was sweet (: She's such a great lady, and I'm so proud of all she's done to build her faith and prepare for baptism. She's now on the long road back to her Heavenly Father! Yay!

Now, watch we whip!

We built a fort. 

And a semi-broken finger, lol  #BallTooHard

FLYING TO BARBADOS & A BUNCH OF STUFF TO DO

It was great talking to you, too. Didn't make me trunky at all... My week has been pretty sweet (: We set a date with Caren for this Saturday after a super spiritual lesson! So, that was awesome, but this will be a busy week for me. I fly into Barbados for a few days to trade with the APs which will be super fun because I love our APs right now. And, a bunch of other stuff to do before I leave and after I get back.

Love you! Thanks for everything!

Love,

Elder Chase

AFTER 7 1/2 MONTHS IN BARBADOS I'M HEADED BACK TO ST. LUCIA - OH, AND I'M THE ZONE LEADER THERE, TOO

I'm doing well. Guess what? I'm getting transferred! It's about time, aha! After 7 and a half months in Barbados, I'm going back to St. Lucia to hopefully finish my mission. I'm pretty excited because I love St. Lucia. I'm going to see Randy again, for sure! Oh, I'm the zone leader there, too, now. So, I'll have a car, and I can practice unrighteous dominion! :D My new companion is Elder Jackson, and I've heard he's pretty cool, but I've never actually met him. Other than that, things are pretty normal. It's going to suck saying bye to Zack tonight :\ but you get numb to it in the mission, aha.

Thanks for all you do, and I love ya!

Love,

Elder Mikesell

ZACH'S BAPTISM, MY BIRTHDAY AND BOXING FOR P-DAY!

So, for starters... my birthday was fun. It was pday, and we had a little party (; then I got my package! And, oh my goodness mum. You went overboard in the best way possible. Aha, I've had a tummy ache lately, but I'm still not fat, so that's good. Aha, thank you for the ridiculous amount of junk food though (: It's been fun. Theeen it was Elder Neeve's birthday, so we had another little party. He got a package as well. Theeeen we had Zachary's baptism! Which was super great (: The first thing he said after emerging from the waters of baptism was, "Bloody hell!" Aha, it's kind of my fault though because he's a lot taller than me so he was hard to pick back up, and I hit his head on the pipe in the wall pretty hard, aha. But then we had testimonies and it was just great! (: So, yeah! Fun week. I'll send some pictures!

Love,

Chase

Zach's baptism! We look like a wifi signal or something!

Boxing for pday, but I don't know how to box, so I just wrestled with boxing gloves on!

Home made deviled eggs. I was so proud of myself. I had no paprika, though ;(

ZACH'S BAPTISM IS NEXT WEEK! CONFERENCE WAS SWEET!

Hey! Sorry about missing last week. But hey! I've got some cool stuff to tell ya! So, I presided at church 2 weeks ago. I know its just a branch of like 60 people, but it was still weird. Aha! The branch president was gone that week, and I guess I'm technically the first counselor, so that was fun (:

Also, Zach's baptism is next week, so that will be amazing. Conference was good, too. I liked this one talk a lot. It was his conversion story about he he just met with the missionaries because of his girlfriend. Aha, flirt to convert! But yeah, overall, it was pretty sweet. Last conference on the mission! So, then maybe the talks about spending time with your family will actually apply to me, aha.

BRANCH PARTY BBQ, DRIVING IN THE CAR AND SERVICE

Branch party BBQ thingy!

So, this was a good week (: we've taught Chad everything now and had some fun playing marble with him and his friends. Now it's up to him to really work towards baptism. We'll be helping as much as we can of course, but Chad's got to step his game up a bit if he's going to be ready for baptism next month. In other news! Zach finally committed to a baptismal date! That was awesome! He says he finally feels ready and he really wants me to be there, so he made me feel special. April 15th is his date, and I just got my transfer call that I'll be staying in Black Rock with Elder Neves. All around good week! Had a lot of fun too. We cooked burritos for Zach because he's never had them (no Mexican food here) and did some service for this prison rehab place, painting and fixing up.
Also fun (:

Clock Tower in Bridgetown

Driving in the car!

SERVICE PROJECT!

INVESTIGATORS CHAD AND ZACH ARE DOING AWESOME!

Heyyy!

Yeah, Bathsheba was pretty sweet (: Oh, it was raining so I made a shirt and a hat out of some grocery bags to keep me dry, aha, it kind of worked. No, I'm just a district leader now. Being an old missionary is pretty coolio. I make fun of my trainee all the time because he still has 23 months to go. Chad's doing great. we taught the Word of Wisdom. He had some changes to make... but he had no problems making the changes. (: He really is a great kid. His date was moved to April 8th though, but it's all good. Zach is doing great too. We played football with him and his crew this week. I love football now. It's so much fun. Aha, he also said he's feeling more ready for baptism so we're going to see what he thinks about April 8th with his buddy Chad (: That would be sweet!

Thanks for all the updates!

Love,
Chase

CHAD, KIM, ZACH AND NEW COMPANION ELDER NEVES

Chad is doing great. He came to church again and has been reading and praying and we see him almost everyday, aha, he's a great guy. The law of chastity lesson went well actually. He just told us what he was doing wrong and that now he understands why it is wrong and is going to fix it. (: So, he's living it and still looking good to be baptized on the 25th of March! Which is like 3 days after transfers, so if I get moved I'm going to be pretty bummed. :/ I'm going to ask President to stay one more transfer but we shall see (: Kim's basically dropped. Not like forever, but she's just too busy right now, so it might not be her time. The other investigators are doing alright. Nothing crazy to report on, but Zach is feeling more prepared for baptism now he says. Still no date set but definitely progress! My new companion is great (: He's still learning and stuff, so it's fun. It's weird to think I'm an "old" missionary now. Aha, Elder Neves, he's tall, from Arizona, played volleyball, funny, like girls aha, and just over all just a pretty cool guy. (: But don't tell him I said any of that cause ya know, bros can't just compliment each other like that ;P oh yeah! We went to a place called Bathsheba! I didn't take a lot of pictures because it was raining, but you should google image it! I'll send some pics, too.

I love you all!

Elder Mikesell

NEW INVESTIGATOR CHAD!

Heyyy! So, this week has been good (: Life is good with Elder Neves. No new news on Kim :/

We have a new investigator named Chad who is super cool! He's 16, and he already has his own place, so that's cool, aha. We taught the restoration and his only question was "how can I join this church?" So, that was a nice miracle this week. We explained baptism to him, and he said he wants to work towards it with us. So, it's going to be great. (: Bujo is this guy who helped us fix our bikes, so we started teaching him. He's super nice and humble. He lives with his girlfriend, Cindy, and she's funny. She wasn't interested at first, but she overheard us teaching Bujo and started asking questions, and now she's totally interested. Aha, Zack is good as well (: He actually knows Chad! So, we are hoping they will help each other get baptized! He's still reading a chapter a day. He's in 2 Nephi, and it's going well. Came to church last week (: yeah, all good over here!

Love,

Elder Mikesell

ZACK'S 2 HOUR FAST, KIM, TRANSFERS AND BUJO'S SECRET HOBBY

Heyyy! Zack is doing well. He's still reading a chapter a day and is in 2nd Nephi now, so we warned him about the Isaiah chapters, and he took it as a challenge and said that it would't faze him. He said he is going to read the whole Book of Mormon no matter what, so that was sweet. Then we had a pretty funny lesson on fasting with him, and he was like "nooo... that is literally going to be the hardest commandment for me to keep. I love food." Aha. So he committed to start practicing with a 2 hour fast 😂 which I don't think is a real thing, but I'll take it. Aha. And it's funny because he's such a thin guy....

Kim! We are seeing her tonight hopefully. She's finally not sick, so everything should go fine.

Transfers! I'm getting a new companion, but I'm staying in my area. Plus! My new companion is not just new... he's NEW. Like 1 day on the mission, so that will be fun. His name is Elder Neves, and he's from Arizona. I'm meeting him tomorrow, so wish me luck (:

Love,

Elder Chase Mikesellah

Bujo is one of the coolest guys that I teach, and I just found out he has a secret hobby. LOL!

STILL TEACHING REMA, LOTS OF SERVICE OPPORTUNITIES HERE & WORKING WITH INVESTIGATORS KIM AND ZACHARY

So, I'll be quick today, but I'm alive and well... mostly! aha

Rema is okay... the lesson went well. We're still going to be teaching him. It's just tough because his wife is so nice, but she is very apprehensive to religion and won't learn about it like Rema, so she's not very supportive and it is hindering his progress. But we'll continue working with him because I love him.

As far as service here goes... we cut bush... paint... move bricks... mix cement... lots of stuff (: It's a perk of serving in 3rd world countries. At least I think it's a perk because I enjoy service.

Aaaaalsssooooo Kim is a new investigator that I just really like. (: I think she will progress well but she's been sick :/ Another guy we've been teaching is named Zachary, and he's super cool, too. 19 year old guy. We've actually taught him everything, and he comes to church with us, and all the members know him. He believes the Book of Mormon, reads it everyday, and has a testimony of the restoration and Joseph Smith, but he says he just doesn't feel ready for baptism. Which is understandable, but I'm not sure what to do to help him be ready at this point, and I don't want to seem like I'm pushing him or forcing him or anything. So yeah, but I have a lot of faith that he is ready and will realize it soon (:

I forgot to send these pictures! We went to a wildlife reserve on P-day. It was pretty sweet.

SERVICE WITH ZIGGY AND SERVICE AT THE HYLANDS HOUSE

Service with Ziggy, our branch mission leader. Good guy, aha! With before and after pictures.

BEFORE

AFTER

So, Rema might be dropping us. We'll see how that goes tonight and hopefully find out why. He called yesterday and said he doesn't want to meet anymore, but I asked if we could talk to him in person. It happens time and time again where I put so much effort into a person, come to love who they are and do all I can to help them, and they just stop.

Other than that, it has bee a good week. Lots of service! (As you can see from the pictures, and I love service, so that was fun. We are teaching this new lady named Kim, who honestly is super promising, but we've only had 2 lessons with her, so I'll let you know how that goes (:

Love,

Elder Mikesell Chase... Chase the Elder Mikesell. That's like a sentence. Wow.

Service at the Hyland's house.

I'm an artist.

AMAZING PRIESTHOOD BLESSING WITH REMA

So, first off! I'm emailing on a crappy "smart" phone this week, so it's really hard to type, but I'll do my best!

Rema! What an experience. We went by his house Sunday morning as planned to take the bus to church with him, and his wife, Kellyann, answered the door to tell us that Rema had gotten home from work at 2am in the morning and was feeling terribly sick. Now, I've been in the Caribbean long enough to know that people will come up with all sorts of lame excuses to get out of a commitment, but I thought for sure Rema wasn't one of those people, and I just knew he was coming to church this week. Not just because he told me, but because the Spirit confirmed it to me when he said it. So, I asked if I could come inside and see him, and sure enough he was not faking. He was sick. But I knew he was supposed to come to church, so Elder Mills anointed him with oil and I sealed the anointing with a blessing. Now, my personality is one that wanted to say, "He really is sick. Let him sleep and heal." But the Spirit is a lot more bold than that, and in the blessing I told him to basically get out of bed and go to the Lord's church. Afterwards when it was me speaking and not the Spirit as much anymore, I told him to offer a personal prayer asking God what he should do.

Aha, so he did and a minute later he was up putting on his button up shirt. Still sick though. He was pale and had a lot of snot and a headache... Just not a good time. But by the time we actually reached the church building, he was back to himself again. He stayed for Sacrament meeting, felt the Spirit and had a good time. There's so much that I learned from that experience, but I'll just say I'm grateful that the Lord is on my side. Cause Satan is a jerk and really good at what he does. But I'm on the winning team, so it feels good (:

I'm going to throw this phone against the wall if I type anymore, though. Sorry!

I love you and thank you for your prayers. They helped Rema get out of bed yesterday (:

Love,
Chase

DISTRICT LEADER AND ZONE LEADER OF A NEW ZONE

I'm doing well! Rema is doing amazing! We've had a few great lessons with him to prepare him for the 4th of February. I can't wait. He PROMISED "rain or shine" that he would be at church this Sunday, and I know he will be, so I'm just really excited. Ummm. other than that... teaching has been rough. I have a new companion, Elder Mills. Plus, I went from "no responsibility other than myself" to being a District Leader and a Zone Leader at the same time over a brand new zone. So, that's my life right now. (:

Jeff is awesome. He's a 50 year old member with a few special needs who goes out with the missionaries 6 or 7 days of the week. All day. No one really knows for sure why he does it, but the old mission president had a name tag printed for him just because he was with the missionaries so much. He doesn't really teach, but it actually does help to have a local bike around with us all the time. People usually like us more.

The holidays were good. Christmas was good.. New Years was sweet because our branch had a New Years party that was really fun (:

Have a good week! I love you!

Love,

Elder Chase