The Adventures of Biking

Hello fellow friends and family,

   After many days of biking in the hot summer sun, I feel inspired (tired) to write you a simple email today. 

   To start off, I want to say...NEVER forget sunscreen in Murrieta. I am a rock lobster. Also, if your companion leaves you, DON'T PANIC. Yesterday, we were biking up this huge hill, only to find out that our destination was actually at the bottom of the hill. We turned around and started zooming down the hill....well, Sister Zogg started zooming down the hill. My pedals weren't turning, and I was stuck at the top of the hill. Out of nowhere, the CHAIN SNAPPED. So with the greasy chain in one hand, and my bike in the other, I slowly walked down the hill...frustrated and alone. 

   Instantly, I thought "I'm going to call President, because my companion abandoned me." But then I realized that Sister Zogg had the phone. So I continued to walked with filth ALL over my hands, and finally my companion started back up the hill. "YOU DESERTED ME, YOU FILTHY ANIMAL!" I exclaimed, "My chain broke!" Nevertheless, we both started laughing and walked to our next appointment. I think Brother Devey noticed my greasy hands and dirty face at the doorstep when he asked, "Can I help you with your bike?" He is a LIFE-SAVER and fixed my bike. I'm so grateful for my ward, they are amazing!

   Don't worry friends, biking is an adventure, and I'm hanging in there! 

  Well on that note, ELDER BENJAMIN DE HOYOS of the seventy came here for our zone conference! It was pretty incredible to have the privilege of hearing from him and his wife! Although they spoke very VERY little english, the spirit was stronger than ever. Our sweet mission president translated for them with the spanish he did know (he served a mission in Mexico). But hearing from both my mission president & Elder De Hoyos strengthened their unity and my testimony of priesthood power. 

   I learned that "more important than speaking is listening." When we listen to our companions, family, friends, and all those around us WITH LOVE, then we don't need to worry about what to say. The spirit will tell us exactly what they need to know. One of my favorite quotes from the meeting was "Live in such a way that those who know you but don't know Christ, will want to know Christ because they know you!" I'm so grateful for the opportunity we had to hear from this general authority and be inspired to be better. 

   We must ask ourselves, "Do I have the doctrine of Christ engraved on my heart and in the marrow of my bones?" Conversion is a process and requires an ACT of FAITH. When we start to leave behind the cares of the world, and give our ALL to the Savior, we will begin to be converted. We must pray always, study our scriptures diligently & fervently, and we must attend the sacrament for the rest of our lives. The gospel is a life-long commitment. Turn to the Savior, He loves you! 

"Because He loves you, He will find you. He will place you upon His shoulders, rejoicing. And when He brings you home, He will say to one and all, "Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost." 

  I love you all and hope you have a fantastic week!! When life gets tough just remember, "The things that are most important cannot be counted." ♥

--

♥ Sister Alexis Skabelund

P.S.

pics>>>>>

- me and Brooke, aka. CHEWBACCA. (I told I missed my dog, "Chewie," so she put on her wookie pajamas for me. 

- Me and Sister Zogg (:

- beautiful Murrieta

- just reminiscing the good ole days by the beach. I MISS IT

451 W Bobier Dr

Vista CA 92083-1906
United States

Pictures

First Week in Murrieta!

MURRIETA "IS DA BEST. I LOVE IT." < read in Nacho Libre's voice

My new companion is Sister Zogg & she seems like anything but a greenie. Although this was her first week in the mission, she is my navigator and guides ME around the area. She's got the brains, the energy, the memory, and the muscles of our companionship. The other sister call her, "Sister Zogg, the Master-Mind." It's true. I'm pretty sure I was assigned with her so she can help me out. Honestly, I would be a deer in the headlights of a semi if she wasn't here. Right now, we are just deer in front of a honda. (;

Having to rely on a little tiny map for our navigation is forcing us to know the area...especially on bikes. I'm sure with Sister Zogg's brains, we (she) will know our entire area by next week! The Murrieta ward is absolutely INCREDIBLE! On Wednesday (our 1st full day) night, Sis. Z's tire popped and we were kind of hopeless. Thankfully we were close to the church and everyone was there for mutual. Brother Doolittle found us a ride back to our apartment and he fixed her tire! So grateful for him. All the members have been so good at taking care of us & of our investigators/recent-converts/less-actives. They LOVE missionary work and are all doing so great at sharing the gospel!

On Friday, we had a ward-potluck at Bishop's house. He has man-made waterfall/cliff-jumping in his backyard. WHAT IS THIS?! Gotta admit, I was tempted...but didn't give in! Maybe next time, when I come back to visit AFTER my mission. haha. We met Ron, who was baptized just a few weeks ago! He is from Boston & has the sweetest heart. He is one of the funniest guys you'll meet. We are so excited for him and his progression; he's working towards getting the priesthood!

Although I haven't met everyone in the ward, one of our favorite family's are the Sanders. Love them to death. And Brother Sanders is from Oregon, so we are on good terms. (:

I just want to give a HUGE thank you to SISTER DALEY for helping us out. She set up appointments for us this week and prepared everything for us so that we were ready to work! I feel bad because we call and text her so much with questions upon questions, but she was so lovingly answered right away. Thank you so much for leaving a good impression on the ward. You are wonderful. THANKS SIS, i love you! ♥

White-wash training has definitely been a challenge. But I think it has helped me to grow the most. Sister Zogg and I are working TOGETHER and having a blast. Although it's extremely hot here, and we get frustrated while biking or getting lost, I know that we were put in Murrieta for a reason. This transfer is going to be so incredible. I have full faith in the Lord that he will make us instruments in his hands, and that we will be able to strengthen his work! Our Heavenly Father really does care for His children. He loves us all, more than you can even imagine. I have a testimony of God's love. I know that prayer is powerful and it is REAL. God hears you and he will answer your prayers in His own way and timing. I know that if we give our will to Him, our eyes will open and we will see miracles EVERY DAY. Jesus Christ is always there, always has been, and always will be. 

"Wherefore, be of good cheer, and do not fear, for I the Lord am with you, and will stand by you; and ye shall bear record of me, even Jesus Christ, that I am the Son of the living God, that I was, that I am, and that I am to come." -D&C 68:6

I love you all.

pics: 

-New companio, Sister Zogg! 

-Bishop's insane backyard (only small portion captured).

-Saying goodbyes to Gosia. I miss her so much!!!​

♥ Sister Alexis Skabelund

451 W Bobier Dr

Vista CA 92083-1906
United State

 

"I'm going from Paradise to Hell."

My dear, precious family and friends,

Sister Larsen and I have had a pretty crazy week. Here's a little bit of what went down:

On Monday, I got a free haircut from Paige (a member in the ward) & we played human Foosball for FHE. Eric (the Priest Quorum Prez) nailed the Bishop's wife in the face. And my team won of course. Tuesday, we had Shepard's pie at Taylor's house and oh my goodness, that is my favorite meal ever. Then she came out with us to visit some people in the area book. Taylor (RM who served in Argentina) got us super pumped to do missionary work and have faith to FIND TEACH & BAPTIZE. I love that girl and her enthusiasm. 

We picked up another investigator named Ryan, and talked to a "Yogi" while walking on Neptune. Neptune is a crazy place. 

The surfer yogi guy told us,

"No disrespect, no disrespect, but your religion is GNARLY! It's pretty bogus. But no disrespect."

He tried to get us to read the book about "The Yogi Master," and to focus on our "third eye". 

"If you truly look within and find yourself through the third eye, you can go to other dimensions and meet the higher powers. Then we will all have peace, love, and happiness."

As we finished the conversation and walked away I asked Sister Larsen what the heck just happened. She simply told me that he was trying to convert us to "yogism" by telling us that doing drugs will take you to other worlds. something like that. It was funny. We find very interesting people near the beach. Only in California will you hear people call our church gnarly.

On Thursday, we got our leadership calls and I will be training a greenie again! I was very nervous to get transfer calls because we both knew that one of us was leaving. Honestly, Del Mar Stake is pretty much the best place ever. Torrey Pines YSA is paradise. I have been so blessed to put in an amazing area with amazing people. Saturday came around and we got our transfer calls. I'm WHITE-WASH TRAINING IN MURRIETA! I'm pregnant again. I'm leaving Torrey Pines. Right after that phone-call, I turned to Sister Larsen and said, "I'm going from Paradise to Hell." 

White-wash (when the ward gets 2 new missionaries). I will be going to a completely new area that I haven't been before while training a brand-new missionary. And it is a blistering hot 115 degrees there. It's at the very top of the mission (and currently I am at the very bottom by San Diego). Woooohooo. I'm excited to be taking over Sister Daley's area. And I love family wards. So I will let you all know how it goes. Tomorrow is going to be insane as I am packing, picking up my greenie, and driving all the way up to Murrieta. 

This is really when I "trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding" (Proverbs 3:5-6). IN ALL THY WAYS ACKNOWLEDGE HIM AND HE SHALL DIRECT THY PATHS. I am so grateful for my Savior who is always there for me and will help me along the way. I'm just kidding about the whole "hell" thing. I'm going to love Murrieta! 

Can't wait for "another day in paradise" as President Thomas always says.

LOVE YOU GUYS.

-saying our goodbyes-

-excuse my scary pregnancy picture-

--
♥ Sister Alexis Skabelund

451 W Bobier Dr

Vista CA 92083-1906
United States

Three Months!!

Hey y'all.

I've been out for 3 months and this is my last week of training! Adios 12 weeks. This week was just a lot of hard work but no teaching. As our zone leader would say, we are "sucking air." A good majority of our ward is moving away back to school, back home, or on vacation. Almost everyone we stop by either aren't home, or they don't answer their doors. Thankfully we were able to teach a few LARC's at the end of the week.(:

We taught Robert, a recent convert who hasn't been coming to church for 2 months, and I lost control & got emotional. I really felt the Savior's love for him during the lesson and finally understood why it's so hard for him to come to church. It's a great feeling when you understand someone and see them as their Heavenly Father does. GUESS WHAT? He was at church this Sunday for the 1st time in awhile!

The work has been tough but after meeting with our Ward Mission Leader for correlation, I felt much better. We expressed to him that we don't have any investigators right now, but Drew responded with something that really hit me. He told me and Sister L, "Missionary work is hard. Even though the work may be slow right now, you are still going to make a difference & change lives. Even if they don't accept your message, you can still uplift and bless those around you. You are doing a great job and a great thing." 

This week I am especially grateful for the heavy "mist" we've been getting on our morning jogs. As I was running, I literally prayed that it would continue to stay nice, cool, and cloudy. guess what: It's been a beautiful 72ish degrees all week & still cloudy! YAY. #perfectweather. I think the Californians hate me now.

Oh and now we have a new bishopric which is kind of sad. I'm going to miss Bishop Romney and the Smiths! Sister Smith was like my mom in this ward. I'm going to extremely miss her hugs, but I will still go visit her every so often. (: Bishop Cornwell is pretty cool. We've had dinner with him a few times before he was bishop. It's just going to be really different!

This morning (6:00am) our zone hiked Torrey Pines together. It was beautiful as expected and we even saw a few dolphins playing in the ocean! That was so awesome to see dolphins SO CLOSE to us.

Anyways, that's about it. I will keep you updated on transfers which are next week! Woohoo. I love transfers! #newstart. LOVE U ALL.

Ps. -Ethan Travis Skabelund!!!! You need to STOP growing right now. Thanks.

1) district pic

2) I love Sister Smith. sorry it's blurry.

3) saying goodbyes to bishop & lil' red (his wife).

--

♥ Sister Alexis Skabelund

451 W Bobier Dr

Vista CA 92083-1906
United States

Super Short

Hi. Soooo this is going to be super short...

This week went by super fast. The highlight of the week was when I got to see some of my MTC buddies (Sister Jackson & Elder Barclay). I played the piano once again for another musical #... mainly because I didn't want to sing lol. So I asked if I could play instead. The sisters in my zone sang "Sisters in Zion," and the hermanas even sang a verse in Spanish!

Everybody go read Jacob 5:71-72. It's my favorite right now. I am on the LORD'S mission. It's not my mission, it's His. He labors WITH US. and He loves us with all of his heart.

The first great commandment is to love God with all of your heart, might, mind, and strength. The first great truth is that God loves US with all of His heart, might, mind, and strength.

I LOVE YOU ALL.

have a fantastic week.

P.S.

1) me, my trainer, and "sister" (generation pic)

2&3) my MTC bff's

4) new phone

5) weird pokey fruit we found on a bush...we ate...it tastes like nectarines

6) palm tree

7)creepy doll

8) aloha street

9) Sis Cross hung this squirrel on a noose (idk how to spell) to show all the other squirrels not to mess with her garden. lol. She has a "squirrelanator" that catches squirrels and then they drown them in a tub of water...isn't that pleasant? 

♥ Sister Alexis Skabelund

451 W Bobier Dr

Vista CA 92083-1906
United States