Learning Sacrifice, Seeing Miracles‏

These pictures are of Sister Skaggs blowing a kiss to her mom....the third picture is of her catching the kiss I blow to her. It's a sweet mother/daughter thing we've been doing for years. I just wanted to share them with you. She sent them in last week's e-mail home.

Caught it!

Can I just say I love you all so much! :)

As usual, I have no idea where to start because there is so much to say but in so little time. Haha, gotta love it when a lot is happening in life!! Well maybe I will just start with probably the biggest miracle of my whole mission!

They Said YES!!

As of June, this little 9 year old girl, Daphne, will have been taught by the missionaries for a year. But there is a little problem - she is still not baptized. Her parents wanted to her to be taught for a full year to make sure she completely knew what she was doing because far too often people become baptized and then go less active. And for her parents, they didn't want her doing that. At this point Daphne has been taught EVERYTHING multiple times. About 3 weeks ago Sis. Moore and I were discussing where she is in regards to preparing for Baptism and we both felt strongly that there is nothing more she could really do to prepare to be baptized except to be baptized. She is only 9 and with that, and like everybody else, she isn't going to be perfect in the gospel. Trust me. I remember how I was when I was 9. Was I good at everything? Yah, I was far from it because I was 9 and just didn't fully understand. So Sister Moore and I felt that in order for her to progress in the gospel and really make a stronger effort to apply everything we needed to move her baptismal date up like 4 months. We decided, and felt we needed, to invite her for March 28th which was only 3 weeks out. We were a little nervous as to how her parents would react to this. That afternoon we went over and at the end we mentioned to Daphne and her parents that we wanted her to prepare to be baptized for March 28th. Let's just say we expected their reaction. Fast forward another 2 weeks, we have not mentioned word one about the baptism, however it is in a week and so action needs to be taken in regards to planning for the baptism. We were sitting down doing weekly planning on Thursday and I was a little hesitant to plan for it because we had not received the go ahead to do it yet. I realized that who was I to say we needed the permission before we could start planning it? It was in that moment that I realized if we had the faith that it was going to happen and we took the necessary steps now showing Heavenly Father that we had the faith then all would be okay. That's what we did. We started planning and preparing for the baptism even though we hadn't received her parents permission to go through with it. Then Friday happens!! :) That is the day we were going over to see if we could make the necessary plans for her to be baptized or not. Well at around 11 AM we receive a text from Daphne's mom, who, by the way, is not a member of the church, saying this, "I just finished ordering Daphne her own Book of Mormon/Doctrine and Covenants/Pearl of Great Price/Bible with her name embossed on it, a tote to go with it, her own children's hymn book, a CTR ring and a necklace as a baptismal gift." Yah, you could say we were just completely shocked! That afternoon we went over before she got home from School and asked what their thoughts are in regards to the baptism being 4 months early and next Saturday. Her mom said, "Yah, we are still planning on it. I'm having the stuff expedited just in case (1-2 days) but it's a surprise so don't tell her. And we are planning on being there. We don't want to do anything but we will be there for her." 

Our "Yes, they said YES!" faces.

 After the lesson Sis. Moore and I left. Words just can't express the gratitude that we had and still do for this simple miracle that Heavenly Father allowed to happen. I honestly can't describe everything that has occurred. We are still seeing MANY miracles right now in regards to her baptism, which is really just showing to me that as you have the faith, miracles will happen. It is proving to me that this is 100% the Lord's work. Yesterday at church Daphne informed us that she would like Bishop to perform her baptism. We had a slight problem - the baptism was scheduled for 11 in the morning but Bishop wasn't going to be flying in till later in the afternoon from Tokyo, and the building was booked due to the Women's Broadcast. We talked to the Bishop's wife and after several phone calls she let us know that he could do the baptism at 6 PM. It was just really humbling to see everything fall into place. It really just proves that Heavenly Father has a hand in all things. As we have the faith miracles will and can happen. We just must trust in him. We are excited for this Saturday. We will have her baptism at 6 PM and then right after we will have the General Women's Broadcast! I'm just grateful for Heavenly Father and for his hand in helping move the work along! We just continue to have the faith and pray that things will continue to move forward for her Baptism this Saturday.

The Gift of Tongues is Real:

One thing I wish I knew was Spanish. When we go tracting here we are ALWAYS tracting into Spanish families. But it has really been neat to see simple miracles come from meeting them. I haven't taken a day of Spanish in my life. However, for some reason, I have been able to understand pretty much everything that has been said so far. Can I speak back to them? Well, not really. It is neat to see that when you have the faith, the Lord will help. The other day we were talking to this older lady at her door and she was speaking with very poor broken English. It was a blessing to be able to stand there with her and have a 20 minute conversation with her and I was actually able to teach her a quick Restoration lesson on her front door. As we were talking with her I just had this silent prayer in my heart that I would be able to understand her and share with her the things she needed to hear. She ended up accepting a Spanish Book of Mormon. It is moments like this where I truly am just grateful for the help Heavenly Father gives us. As we have the faith that he can help us, he will. It will be according to his time and his will but he will help us.

I do have to say, I wish I knew Spanish. It would really come in handy out here!! We receive about 2 Spanish referrals a day. The Hermanas (Spanish speaking Sister missionaries) we serve around are pretty happy, that's for sure.

A Time of Sacrifice:

For some apparent reason lately I have been learning a lot about the importance of sacrifice and giving everything we have to the Lord. Yesterday, in Sunday School, we taught the lesson on Sacrifice. As we were discussing the importance of Sacrifice in modern days I found myself thinking about "what are we willing to sacrifice to the Lord?" There was a General Conference talk from this past General Conference that I was reading the other day that talked a lot about the choices we make. It talked about Patriarchal Blessings and making better choices. As I was pondering on the message he shared, it made me reflect on what we are willing to give up to the Lord to see promised blessings fulfilled. Life may be great. I can honestly say I love life right now. I love my mission. Is it the hardest thing I have ever done? It is indeed the hardest thing I have ever done. But what am I willing to give up to come even closer to my Savior? I may have something so great right now in my life but what greater choice can I make that will allow me to take a step closer to my Savior? What are we doing to see these promised blessings fulfilled? We must not be stagnant with our life. This time is a time for us to prepare to meet God. Christ was always finding ways to grow even though he was perfect. As we follow his example, what are we willing to do, to sacrifice, to come even one step closer to Him? What is one thing that is holding us back from achieving all of these promised blessings?

I love you all and am so grateful for this opportunity to be a missionary and to see the miracles that are unfolding in the lives of the people here. The Gospel is true and it's a privilege to see the people take the Gospel and have it change their life. I love the time I have to be out here. It's sad that it is ever so slowly coming to a close. There are only about 3 weeks left until I will be back on a plane headed to Temple Square. I hope you all know just how much your Father in Heaven loves you! Continue to do all that you can to gain his trust. Be that instrument for good in his hands. Have a great week and know I love you all!! Oh and be safe!

Love ALWAYS!

Sister Skaggs

Pictures of Sister Moore and Sister Skaggs just "letting their hair down".

Guess Who Got BAPTIZED‏

Love you All,

A Day to Remember:

Yesterday was one of the most memorable and greatest moments of my entire mission! Why? Well let me back track and explain why. When I was down in Spotsylvania we were teaching this family who holds such a dear place in my heart for the amazing examples of faith they are to me. Right before I left, Sis. Stoddard and I had felt that we needed to put this family on date for baptism. As we were praying separately and together we both had really neat spiritual experiences that this family needed to be put on date for March 15th. It was weird though, because if they were baptized then that would mean they wouldn't receive the Holy Ghost for a whole other week. Several things occurred during that lesson and they said they would work towards that date and see if the spirit tells them that they need to be baptized then. Well, I got transferred out and then got really busy out here in Woodbridge and so I didn't think much about that whole situation. Then this past Wednesday I received permission to go to lunch with a member from my old area, Sister B., and one of the first things she says is, "The Whalens are getting baptized!" I pretty much freaked out in the middle of Cici's when I heard that. Fast forward to Sunday. My Ward Mission Leader up here found out about it and offered to take my companion and I down there to the baptism with his wife, which its about an hour drive there.

Haliegh and Sis. Skaggs

The Baptism! Due to traffic, we arrived just on time for them to be walking down the hall to take pictures. One of the greatest moments was seeing the four of them all dressed in white, walking down the hall together. It just didn't seem real. But it was such a sweet sight to see. I have just grown to love this family a lot and to see them together making this choice was just an amazing sight to see. The Relief Society room was filled to capacity, which made me so happy to see so many people coming out to support this family making their first step together of returning back home to their Heavenly Father. The entire time we were there the spirit was very strong. But the greatest moment of them all was when we got to witness each member of the family enter the font and be baptized. Sister Stoddard and I kept looking at each other every time one of them was baptized and we each just had a huge smile on our face. We both knew just how much their life will change/be blessed for taking this step of being baptized and of starting this journey back home to their Father in Heaven. Nothing can describe the feeling it was to see this family together be baptized. It is something that I have never seen before and so seeing it for the first time and seeing it be a family I know and love just made the whole experience that much more special.

Sis. Stoddard, Sis. Skaggs and Haliegh

Making faces with Haleigh

After everything was done I was talking with the dad and was asking him when he knew that they were to be baptized. Recalling back to me he said, "After you and Sis. Stoddard gave us that date we sat down and discussed it as a family. We knew it would be a good step for us to take in our life. It was about a week later that I was thinking to myself and I just realized that we needed to just do it and take that leap of faith." That last comment really stood out to me, "We needed to just do it and take that leap of faith." Many times in life we are hesitant to do things because of the unknown factor or because we are just hesitant in general. But, if it is a good thing, then sometimes we need to take that leap of faith. Heavenly Father doesn't always give us a witness of things until after we take that step of faith.

Sis. Stoddard and Sis. Skaggs

The Bognars and Sis. Skaggs

I'm beyond excited for what lies ahead for them. I know just how much their life will be blessed as they now take the Gospel of Jesus Christ and really apply it to their life. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is true, that is something I, personally, will never deny. It is something that as we sincerely take and apply the various principles to our life and take that leap of faith we will see it mold and shape our life. Not just our life here, but for the life to come. The individual steps we take now in our life, those choices we make, is what is shaping our eternal destiny. What are we doing to make sure we will be prepared to live with our Father in Heaven again? Is our Father in Heaven and Savior, Jesus Christ, number one in our life? Do we strive to apply the
Gospel Principles? How do we uphold our baptismal covenant, etc? These are each things I have reflected a lot upon since coming out on my mission. One thing I have learned is just how valuable our time here on earth is, our time to prepare to meet God.

Barbara:

Barbara is a recent convert who was baptized back in Dec. She is like a sponge. Okay, that sounds weird but its true. We met with her the other day and she was just soaking everything up as we were speaking with her. She is a little older with a family all grown up. But it just amazes me with how willing she is to just take the gospel and just soak it up. She came with her scripture case, her journal, everything and was just highlighting and writing notes like crazy. When we mentioned something new her eyes got really big and she was just excited to have learned something new and to be able to apply something different to her life. Being on a mission you meet many individuals, like her, who are willing to just soak up the Gospel of Jesus Christ. When you understand what the Gospel of Jesus Christ is, you understand the importance and need to soak it up and then to keep it there by applying it to our life. It's a blessing to be able to know her. I'm so excited to spend the next couple of weeks to be able to continue to get to know her.

Woodbridge:

Socks from my mom....so missionary
appropriate, huh?

From my St. Patrick's
day package from home!

This area is just so amazing! Crazy but amazing. Haha, crazy in regards to traffic. It is a suburb of D.C. which means at about 3 pm in the afternoon we have to add an extra 15 minutes to where we want to get to because the traffic is just horrendous. It's like Temecula on a Friday afternoon. Which reminds me, EVERYONE here that I meet knows where Temecula is. Which is weird because we aren't that big of a city. But apparently everyone is like, "Ohhh, you're from Temecula. I have been there. I go there for business trips. I have family that live there, or I have oil from the Temecula Olive Oil Company." It is really weird! Don't ask my why we are so well known because I couldn't tell you why. My Bishop is the one who is like, "I buy my Oil from the Temecula Olive Oil Company. Whenever I travel to San Diego for business I go and get my Olive Oil. I used to drive up there but they now have a store down there [in San Diego]." Haha. I about died laughing when I found out that my Bishop here, all the way out in Virginia, buys his oil from there. And I have proof. We go over to his house every Monday night to discuss ways we can use the Ward Council in our work. He showed me his Temecula Olive Oil. It was weird seeing it. He travels about once a month to different parts of the world for his job and so it doesn't surprise me that he has made his way to Southern California.

The Work:

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

The work we do here involves a lot of Less Active or Recent Convert work. We have several investigators but a lot of our time is used working with the Bishop - in regards to working with the Less Actives that we have here in the ward. This is a very diverse ward, and I love it so much! I feel so blessed to be here and to have this opportunity to work with a ward. I have just under a month left with outbound. It's weird how fast it goes. But I'm loving every minute of it. It's weird because being here has become my normal. I know I'm a Temple Square sister but at the same time I don't feel like I am because this is my new normal. I know I will be going back and I'm excited to go back but at the same time I just don't feel like I will ever go back.

Well I have to go. I love you all! Continue to work hard, be safe and soak the Gospel up! :) Have a great week!!! I feel blessed to have such amazing individuals in my life! Love you!!!!!

Love Always,

Sister Skaggs

Becoming a Disciple of Christ

I love you all,

Not much happened this week to really write home about that I can think of off the top of my head. But I'm sure as I start to write I will think of things that happened.

The Ward:

I mentioned briefly this past week about the ward here. Honestly, this is one of the biggest aspects of missionary work that I will miss when I go back to Temple Square in the next couple of weeks. I have been beyond blessed with the two wards Heavenly Father has allowed me to serve in so far since being here. It has really been neat being able to observe from a missionary point of view how these members fulfill their callings, how they work with missionaries and just the absolute desire they have to serve their Father in Heaven. One aspect that I love is Ward Council. The one thing that our bishop has asked of us missionaries is when we walk into ward council we only speak for 5 minutes. I love it! His vision is before we get there we know exactly what we need from the members of the Ward Council. We immediately just ask that we need this help from so and so for so and so, instead of us just walking in there and saying "so this is who we are in contact with and we need people to come to lessons". Instead, we pinpoint specific needs for these individuals and we pinpoint which member of the ward council (auxiliary) would be able to see that issue resolved. It's a really powerful way to have it done. Yesterday in Ward Council we proposed an idea about how to involve the youth with missionary work. When the elders first started proposing it, our Bishop looked at one of his counselors and just started chuckling. My initial thought was, "Why are you laughing about this idea? You love missionary work." After we finished proposing the idea our Bishop looked at us and said, "Let me tell you about an incident that occurred this morning when we were meeting as a Bishopric."

They were discussing about what they wanted to do for this months Bishop Youth Fireside since the theme for this month had to be moved to May. Well, as they were praying about it and discussing what they should do they just weren't getting an answer. Bishop worded it as "it was just a complete stupor of thought." And so they just finally left it alone and said "the Lord will answer it in his own due time. We have two weeks still." So the reason why they started chuckling was because unannounced to them, we were preparing our thoughts about proposing to them our Youth MTC [Missionary Training Center] that we wanted to hold for the youth in the ward which was going to start with a fireside. That right there is just a simple miracle of how the Lord answers prayers. The Lord was able to answer a bishoprics prayer through 4 young missionaries. It really just goes to show that we just must be patient with the Lord and with his timing.

Serving at the Assisted Living Place:

Being with the elderly for these 3 hours each week is probably one of my highlights every week besides doing missionary work. They always bring such a big smile to my face. Let me share with you little bit about some of them.

Bill - Oh Bill I just love him! He is always like "Oh that's sweet, I love you to." Or he will get up and just start walking away and we will be like, "Bill, where are you going? We aren't done yet." His reply, "I'm just going." We then go to bring him back and he is like, "Oh, we are going back now? Yah, I guess we can do that." He always tells us just how much he loves us. Last Sunday when we left I went to shake his hand goodbye and he instead, grabs my hand, clasps it and then pulls it to his mouth and gave my hand a kiss and was like, "Just want you to know I love ya." I'm like, "Thank you Bill. I love you too." His reply, "Oh you're welcome." He is just a character and knows how to bring a smile to our face.

Donna - She is so sweet! When I first met her she just kept staring at me and I didn't know why. Well, we helped them get settled for lunch and she is like, "You are just so pretty, I really love your hair. You are just really beautiful." And then Bill is like, "Yah, I agree." Every time Donna sees me now she is just like "you are really pretty". I love her. She is so sweet.

Mrs. Martha - She is the one who knows EVERY Hymn and she is really good at sleeping in her chair but while she sleeps she sings. I always count on her to sing. When she doesn't know the song then that's not good because no one else would know either. I just love Mrs. Martha.

Helen and Anna - I don't even know how to explain. They are the ones that crack me up the most. They are like inseparable best friends. When we first got there Helen looked at Anna and said, "Who are they? Why are they here?" And then she just makes little side comments the whole time. Then when we leave she is always like "Where are you going? Okay. Well, good luck." She is so funny. I love those two.

I just really love this opportunity I have to serve them for these 3 hours every week. It has ALWAYS been a dream of mine and it may be something I do after my mission. They have such sweet spirits and you truly can feel the love Heavenly Father has for them when we visit with them every week.

The Work:

The Missionary Work here is a little slower. It's just different. We are kept pretty busy - like tomorrow we will be going non stop the whole day with back to back appointments but then we have days where our schedule is just empty. We have Elders in our ward as well and they are in the same boat. We do have a little teaching pool but not as big as I would hope. But that's where you just have to get out and work, go hunting (that's my substitute for tracting). We do have another little 9 year old girl that we are working with right now named Daphene. She is so sweet and has such a strong desire to be baptized. She has been investigating for about a year now but her parents really want her to be completely converted to the Gospel so they said after a year she can be baptized. Well, the other day we were just stuck with what we were going to teach her next. After discussing it, we decide that we were going to put her on date [for baptism] and give her a visual to work towards. We put her on date for one that is fairly close. We are just really praying that her parent's hearts are softened and that they can see the change she is making in her life and her desire. She loves coming to church and just loves reading the Book of Mormon. So we are just working hard with her right now.

We do have other investigators right now that we are working with but they aren't at the point where we are making a whole lot of progress with them.

I hope everyone is doing well! Don't ever forget just how much the Lord loves each of you. You are of special worth and don't forget that. Being on a mission is something that truly changes you when you have the desire to do so. Heavenly Father really puts you through the refiners fire but I love it because it shows he loves us and wants us to change and grow. Going through rough times isn't always a bad thing. We have the choice to decide what our attitude is going to be in regards to each trial we are given.

This past week, and well, through this whole outbound experience, Heavenly Father has really shown me the importance of being diligent in all aspects of life. That has been something I have really focused my attention on in regards to change. The other day in personal study I was studying in Jacob 1 [Book of Mormon] and I believe it was Jacob 1:7 that talks about being diligent. As we are diligent and persevere through life, and most importantly, in the gospel, blessings will come. One of the greatest blessings is feeling that Heavenly Father trusts us and is pleased with what we are doing. I can testify that as you reflect on your life and think about what it is that Heavenly Father wants you to change, to become an even more effective disciple of Jesus Christ, he will show you. He will allow you the opportunity to grow and to change. That starts as we submit our will to him, turn ourselves over and allow him to show us our weakness.

Well, I need to get going! I love you all! And family, thank you for writing me. I'm excited to get your letters hopefully they came today! :) A lady just said the mailman pulled up so hopefully they are here. Haha - continue to become whom your Father in Heaven expects you to become. Be safe and know that Sister Skaggs loves you and your Heavenly Father does too!

Oh and guess what?? I have only 5 weeks left until I fly back to Temple Square!!! :(

Love Always,

Sister Skaggs

Skating Around Satans Traps‏

To All I Love,

Welcome to Woodbridge:

Doing planks AND
eating brownie
mix

Sis. Skaggs can multitask - eating
brownie mix WHILE planking

Well as you know I was transferred this past week. I'm so grateful for this opportunity I have to be in my new area. I was transferred to an area about 30 minutes north of Fredericksburg to a somewhat suburb of Washington D.C. I have been transferred to a town called Woodbridge. So far I love it here! Sister Moore, my companion, said we have a really awesome ward which I do have to agree with her. Our Ward Mission Leader is phenomenal! He is so involved with the work. It's pretty amazing. This area is a pretty fast paced area. Nobody is laid back here. It reminds me of Southern California with everyone being on the go or busy. I again have elders in my ward so our area is about half the ward. The ward is A LOT smaller geographically compared to Spotsylvania. It only takes about 10-15 minutes, without traffic, to get to the other end of our ward which is pretty nice. I'm really excited for what these next 6 weeks will hold here in the Woodbridge 2nd ward. I feel really blessed Heavenly Father has allowed me the opportunity to serve here. This ward hasn't had a Temple Square sister before so it will be a little interesting seeing how they all react to that. Some of their facial expressions have been pretty hilarious when they start asking me about why I will be leaving at then end of this transfer when I have only been out for 8 months. Then I inform them that my mission call is to Temple Square.

Oh, so fun fact: my area has EVERYTHING in it. My last area was HUGE and we only had 1 gas station which was 20 minutes from our apartment. My new area literally has everything. You name it, I can go to it (Costco, Mall, Olive Garden, On the border, Chili's, Bob Evans etc.).

Meet Sister Moore:

My new companion is amazing. I love her so much! She is actually in her last transfer so we are both "killing each other" out of this mission, but I'm killing her out of missionary life in general. She is from Centerville, UT and is the 2nd oldest of 8! It reminds me of your family, dad, instead you're the baby of 9. She has gone through so much but she is still so strong despite everything she has experienced. When she started opening up to me and telling me, my jaw just dropped. I could never imagine going through some of the experiences she has had to face with her family. But despite everything, she is still so solid in the Gospel and has such a desire to serve her Father in Heaven.

Skating Around Satan's Traps:

"Skating" in Woodbridge

An icicle that grew in hours

How are we avoiding the traps that Satan is putting in front of us? Yesterday the area experienced, I don't want to call it an ice storm, but we just had a lot of freezing rain in the morning. With the freezing rain we experienced in the morning it caused a nice layer of ice on all the cars and sidewalks and some on the roads to the point where we were sliding/skating/dragging our feet on the sidewalk because it was to slippery. The thing about it was you couldn't necessarily tell it was ice at certain parts unless you were being observant. But I started thinking this morning about how this applies to our life. Here we are going through life so focused on everything around us that we don't see this trap Satan has laid in front of us until it is too late. There were moments yesterday as we were walking on the ice where we stopped and truly did not know how we were going to take our next step because we were afraid of falling. Whoever was in front would warn the person behind, "Hey, there is a very slick patch of ice here be careful." Satan will do everything in his power to get us to fall into one of his traps. He will do whatever it takes to make us fall on one of those patches of ice that can't be seen. What are we doing to make sure we don't fall on that hidden patch of ice; that hidden trap? That's where the Atonement comes into play. Our Savior Jesus Christ has already walked that path for us, he has already taken those steps for us and he knows exactly what we must do to overcome those traps that Satan has put in our path. As we look to our Savior in all that we do he will be by our side to guide us around those slick pieces of ice, he will be there to catch us when we fall and we can't get up on our own. That's why the Atonement occurred, because we can't get up on our own. He is the only one who has walked the path that we will ever walk. He is the only one who knows what we will face but as we rely on him he will be there to guide us safely home. How comforting is that? To know that there is someone who is willing to be by our side to guide us and catch us or to even help us get back on our feet to continue going. Satan will do whatever it takes to trap us but as 

we skate/slide down that icy path filled with seen or unseen patches of ice we can know we don't have to do it alone. Our Savior has already walked the path. He has experienced our falls. He knows the pain we go through when we do fall. He knows the sorrow and heartache when we feel like giving up. I invite you to reach out to him and to rely on him -- allow him to guide you on this icy path back home to your Father in Heaven.

Satan is Real but Tereza Endured and was BAPTIZED:

Tereza, at her baptism, with her mom
and little sister, Abbie

Sorry I'm talking a lot about this but we have just experienced a lot of the adversary this past week. There is this 9 year old little girl who is so amazing!! I just can't explain just how amazing she is. I have never seen a 9 year old with faith as strong as hers. She was finally baptized on Friday, which was such a beautiful baptism seeing this little girl so excited to make this covenant with her Father in Heaven. But Satan was doing EVERYTHING in his power to get it to not happen. The weather had already cancelled the baptism the week prior and then so many minor yet big details for the baptism was going wrong. But this little girl and her less active mom had the faith that she would be baptized. Despite everything that was occurring, even minutes before the baptism, she was baptized on Friday! She was just beyond excited! We went over before the baptism so I could braid her hair. She was like, "I'm getting baptized soon and will be making that covenant with Heavenly Father and I will get the Holy Ghost." That is the one thing she has just been beyond excited for was to get the Holy Ghost. Well, Sunday rolls around and like I mentioned before, the weather was just not good. Wards were being cancelled for the second week in a row due to the weather, the sidewalks were horrible, and Tereza got sick. 

Sis. Skaggs, Tereza & Sis. Moore
at Tereza's baptism

 Sister Moore and I just couldn't believe everything the adversary was doing to stop this 9 year old little girl from entering into these covenants with her Father In Heaven. Due to the weather they cancelled the last 2 hours of church and started 15 minutes late. The thing that scared us was Tereza's mom has a bad foot and she said, "I want to make it but if the sidewalk is bad I'm not going to be able to walk up the hill with ice on this foot." Our apartment sidewalk was horrendous and so we knew that her sidewalk was going to be horrible. When we received word from our leaders as to how bad it was we decided we needed to say a prayer and ask that a way be made possible so Tereza and her family could make it to Sacrament meeting so she could receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost. Despite everything, Tereza and her mom and littler sister made it to 

Abbie and Tereza with something
they put together about Tereza's
journey to her baptism

church right as we were singing the opening song. And despite Tereza being sick, she was still confirmed and received the Holy Ghost yesterday. She is an amazing example of faith. Satan is real and did all he could to stop this little girl to the point that she was sick. But she had the faith and she knew that her Father in Heaven and Savior Jesus Christ would be right by her side to help her. She knew the importance of receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost and being baptized and she wasn't going to allow anything to stop her.

It really makes you stop and think "Do I have the faith this little 9 year old girl has? Am I willing endure through anything?"

Volunteering at the Assisted Living Center:

One thing we get to do every Friday morning is we go to the near by assisted living center and we get to work with some of the people that live there. We work with a group of about 15-20. We go into this room and we sing nursery rhymes with them for about 2 hours. It is such a neat experience. One of my favorite parts is Sunday afternoons. We go over and for about an hour we have 'church' with them. We sing hymns with them and then share scriptures that go with it and then share a brief testimony. I can't explain to you the spirit that I felt in that room yesterday. Those individuals are people that already hold a special place in my heart. We have this cute lady. Her name is Mrs. Martha and she likes to lay back in her chair and sleep but while she sleeps she sings the hymns with us. She knew EVERY hymn we sang. After we sang we went and gave a hug to each of them before we left and the sweet spirits they each have just brought tears to my eyes. Several asked, "Where are you going? Why are you leaving us?" It was just so sad but we promised we would be back next week. They are some of the sweetest yet funniest people I have met. Haha, I just can't stop laughing right now at some of the experiences I have had with the two days I have been with them so far. It has always been a dream of mine to do something like this but I have never known about how I could go about do something like this. It's funny how years later your prayers can be answered. It comes not on our time but on the Lord's time. I'm so excited I get to spend the next 6 weeks with them.

Sis. Pincock and Sis. Skaggs

I love it here. I love being a missionary and I love EVERYTHING I'm learning. I love the people I have had the opportunity to meet and to witness the change in their life as they take the Gospel of Jesus Christ and apply it to their life.

Family and friends, know that I love you and care for you. I hope my comments make sense. It made sense when I was thinking about it but I don't know how it came out when I wrote it. I love you!!

Love Always,

Sister Skaggs

P.S. I found out Temple Square just received IPADS!!! Can you believe it?!?! Ahhh the work is hastening!!!! When I logged onto my missionary portal it said "your mission has just been authorized to use mobile devices please press next to learn how you will use your iPad." I was like, "Huhh? We don't have iPads here." And then I realized that I'm still connected to Temple Square and putting two and two together I realized that Temple Square must have iPads now! Anyways enough of that!

I'm Being Transferred! :(‏

From 2/23/15


To All I Love,

Time To Say Goodbye:

It's crazy to think that I'm already being transferred and I have only been here in Spotsylvania for 4 1/2, almost 5, weeks. I feel as if a part of my heart is having to stay behind. We both thought that I would stay here or that we would stay together. Well, Wednesday we were talking with the STL's and they mentioned to us that it's usually 50/50 that Temple Square Sisters stay in their first area or that they get transferred. When they informed me of that I was like great, I'm going to be leaving. Saturday is the dreaded day that every missionary in the mission is on the edge of their seat. We were waiting all day to see if we would get a phone call or not informing us of transfers. If the AP's called, you were getting transferred. If president called, you were training or getting a leadership position. And if you don't get a call, you're both staying in that area. But you have no idea and so from 10 AM - 9:30 PM you literally just have to keep the phone right next to you and you just wait to see if you get a call. Well, sure enough at about 7 PM the phone starts vibrating and I'm pretty sure I had a mini heart attack when I looked down and saw "AP-Elder Thomas". Sister Stoddard answered and he says, "How are you? May I speak with Sister Skaggs?" Not one of my fondest moments on my mission. He was like, "Sister Skaggs, how are you? Just wanted to let you know you are being transferred. Can you be at transfer conference on Tuesday?" I was like, "Wait. What? Uhhhh yah. I can be there." [Note from Sis. Skaggs mom.....that would have been funny if she said, "No. Can't be there" and then hung up!!]

To be honest, it was really hard accepting the fact that I was leaving. I have only been here for 4 1/2 weeks but I have developed some really close relationships with several members and with several investigators. So it was really hard the first 12 hours adjusting to this. But it was really neat because yesterday as I was studying during lunch I was really just asking Heavenly Father for that peace and comfort and understanding that this was his will. I decided to read a talk called "Continue in Patience". Several parts stood out about how we don't know why Heavenly Father does certain things but we must be patient with him. To be patient we must have a positive outlook because if we aren't then we are being selfish. That caught me off guard. I remember as I was finishing the talk just having a greater sense of understanding that I'm supposed to leave. I felt at peace even though I know it's going to be hard to leave this area. I felt at peace that this is the Lord's will. The Lord only needed me here in Spotsylvania for 4 1/2 weeks and that there is another area here in Virginia that he needs me to go to. I don't really know who I'm supposed to meet or why I'm supposed to be where I'm going but I can tell you I know that's where the Lord needs me to be. There are a lot of times in life when we are going to be asked to do hard things. But that's where our faith is tested. How are we willing to respond to those situations? Are we willing to trust in the Lord? Yes, its' going to be difficult but the Lord knows us perfectly. I'm excited for this change and I can't wait to tell you all about my new area, new people and new companion next week. Things work differently here so I won't find out anything until tomorrow afternoon and I won't be able to write till next p-day.

Saying Goodbye to those I love:

 Yesterday I had to say goodbye to Scott and Tiffany and then Tom, Shannon, Haliegh and Christian. That is probably the hardest part -- saying goodbye to them. They have been such amazing examples to me as they have really taken the Gospel and despite everything they are going through really just striving to apply it to their life. They have become life long friends and I know I will always be in touch with them. I look forward to the day when they will have the opportunity to make those covenants with their Father in Heaven. They are each working towards baptism right now and I hope I can make it back to see them make this next step in their life while I'm still here or see it when I get back to Temple Square. The thing that I really love the most is the desire they have. They have told us that "I won't be baptized until I have that strong confirmation" which means they aren't just doing it to make us happy. They are doing it because they know that's what Heavenly Father needs them to do. I just love Scott and Tiffany so much. It was so hard saying goodbye. Scott, when I was leaving, was like, "You, Sister Skaggs, have become a part of our family. You have had an impact on our lives and we will always stay in contact with you. When we get baptized I will do whatever it takes to make sure you see it." He made some other comments that just brought me to tears. They have no idea how much of an impact they have had on my life. I will miss them so much!

Saying goodbye to Tom, Shannon, Haliegh and Christian was so hard as well! It's a good thing I'm not saying goodbye but just "see you later". They are such an amazing family! They have gone through a lot but they have such a desire and willingness to apply the gospel to their life. We have had some amazing miracles the past couple of days with them. It was so sad saying goodbye to little Haliegh. Haha, she is so funny. I just love her! I told her that when she gets baptized I will do whatever it takes to see it. She was like. "Okay." She drew me a picture of the 3 of us together. Every time I come over she immediately goes and gets the hymn book out of her purse and comes and sings with us. She is sooo cute! When we come over now I ask her, "Haliegh, what song do you want to sing?" She responds back nice and quite "Families Can Be Together Forever". So that's what we sing every time we go over. She sits between Sister Stoddard and I on the couch and we will sing that song with her. I can't wait for the day when the four of them become an eternal family! :)

The members here have been remarkable! I feel so incredibly blessed to have developed such close relationships with several members and families here in the Spotsylvania Ward! I will miss them tremendously but I promised several people I would be back so it gives me an excuse to come back! :)

Last night I went to several families to say goodbye. It's never fun saying bye to those you grow to love. There is one sister in the ward - she actually was baptized just one year ago and went through the Temple on Saturday. She is AMAZING! I think of her as my Grandma away from home. She is sooo sweet and caring. I just cried with her last night when I said goodbye. She just hugged me and let me cry. She is amazing and has such a strong faith. Soooo many things were getting in her way of going to the temple but she finally was like, "Even if I have to ride to the Temple in an ambulance I'm still going on Saturday." She is so funny. I love her.

This morning I had to say goodbye to another family that I have really grown to love so much! The two older daughters were just going to meet us at Chick-fil-A but then the mom found out I was leaving. So they drove 45 minutes from their home to say goodbye to me. I just love the Bognars so much and I feel so blessed to have gotten to know them! Family, I can't express to you just how amazing the people are that I have gotten to know here. I feel like I'm leaving a piece of my heart here in Spotsy.

I'm sad to be leaving but I know this is what the Lord needs me to do! I will let you know next week what happens in regards to transfers! I'm excited for this new adventure. Oh, also can you believe I'm almost half way done with outbound!! Ahhh!! I just wish I could stay forever! I LOVE being here! Know that I love you all and I hope you have a great week this week! Oh and please don't write me at the address anymore!! If you do I wont get it for awhile because Sis. Stoddard will have to forward it to me.

Love you!!!!

Sister Skaggs