Light The World

First off, I want you all to check out "Light The World" if you haven't already. If you have, go ahead and watch it again. >> #LIGHTtheWORLD this Christmas season. Serve others like Jesus did “In 25 Ways. Over 25 Days.” Prepare yourselves and your family for the day of service on Thursday, Dec. 1st and many days to follow! Find a way to serve your neighbor, serve a friend, and serve the world like Christ did when he was here. I know that by doing so, we can all make a huge difference. WE ARE THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. Just as Christ is the light of the world, we can bring the light of the gospel into our own homes and in the lives of others. All we need to do is share it. Whatever it might be, ponder on ways you can be of service to your community or those around you. I testify that when we serve others, we are serving our Heavenly Father! We will make a difference.

  

I also testify that the Lord has so much in store for us; he loves us and wants us to be happy. "The tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen, because of their faith, to make them mighty even unto the power of deliverance" (1 Ne 1:20). I'd like to relate this to an experience we had just a few days ago. On Saturday, we knocked on a door...looking for a name by the name of Ismael, whom we have never met before. As usual, one of the kids answered the door and said that his dad was too busy. We handed the kid a mormon.orgcard and told him to have a nice day. As we were about to walk away, Ismael (the father) came to the door and said, "No! Come on inside!" Sister Fogg and I looked at each other with confusion. In our minds we are thinking, "What?! Did he just say we can come in?" Not knowing what to do next, we followed the welcoming father into his home. Izzy, the son who answered the door, called all his younger siblings to come downstairs. We introduced ourselves to the family and got to know Ismael and his four children- Izzy(17), Allen(14), Ruby(12), & Maria(9).

To begin, I felt prompted to ask the Morales family what is most important to them. Allen immediately answered, "FAMILY!" At the moment, we were able to testify of a loving Heavenly Father who has given us a plan by which we can be with our families forever. Through this plan, our families are blessed and are united together. I mentioned how much I miss my own family, but that the gospel of Jesus Christ is just as important to me. We testified of the blessing our families have received from following the restored gospel and teachings of Jesus Christ. I know that there was a need for a restoration! I know that Christ has again established his true church on the earth today. I know that through him, and by him, and of him, we can live with our families for time and all eternity; we can live with our Father in Heaven again someday. This is Plan of Happiness. 

Together, we shared Joseph Smith's first prayer and testified of the power of prayer. The room was filled with complete peace and I even felt goosebumps all up my arms. We all got on our knees and I demonstrated what it is like to pray (he mentioned that they don't pray as a family). Afterwards, we asked Ismael to say a prayer but he was very hesitant. He said that he was too shy and would say a prayer next time. **oooh so there will be a next time? "What about you Izzy?" I asked. And to our surprise, Izzy immediately began his prayer. He thanked Heavenly Father for his wonderful family and prayed that they would continue to be happy and blessed. His simple prayer to our Heavenly Father filled me with joy and love. I know that God heard Izzy's prayer and He loves the Morales family. Even though we just met them, I felt a miraculous amount of love for each of them. I know that our prayers are heard.

We also had the privilige of teaching "Naudia" a persian woman who walked into church one day and said, "I'm looking for a Christian church!" I know that the Lord has prepared people to receive the gospel and sometimes, He even sends them right to us! We were able to give her a church tour and testify of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Although we didn't teach her much, and she didn't understand very well, I felt prompted to invite to be baptized. The spirit filled each of our hearts and there was a moment of silence. The words that came out of her mouth next gave me chills and a feeling of joy. Naudia responded with a smile on her face, "Yes!" There were many other miracles that we saw that day and that we continue to see every day. I'm grateful that we can teach the Morales family. They have been living in that home for twelve years and had never seen or held a Book of Mormon before. I'm so grateful that we listened to the spirit and found this family who needs the gospel. I'm grateful that we could share the message of family and love with them and give them a book that can and will change their lives. Please keep the Morales family in prayers. 

Listen to the Holy Ghost! He will guide you to those who are in need of your spirit, your service, and your testimony. The spirit will show you where you need to go and what you need to say. Don't be afraid to listen to or follow the promptings of the Holy Ghost. If the spirit tells you to serve someone, tell someone "thank you," or show love to someone who needs it, do not hesitate. Follow the Savior in everything that you do. "And also, the voice of the Son came unto me, saying: He that is baptized in my name, to him will the Father give the Holy Ghost, like unto me; wherefore, follow me, and do the things which ye have seen me do" (2 Ne 31:12).

I LOVE YOU ALL. 

happy holidays. Christmas in California << a tumbleweed snowman

Happy Thanksgiving

OH MY GOODNESS ITS THANKSGIVING!! Woohoo.

gobble gobble gobble 🦃

   I'm grateful for this week. This week has been eventful. We picked up a new investigator named, Tyrone (Ty) and he is pretty awesome. He is 63 years old and has been considered a "church hopper" in the past. He has met with elders before when he lived in Ohio, and has many Mormon friends & associates. When I look at him, I see Joseph Smith...someone who was seeking the truth wherever he went and in every church he visited. Tyrone has so much faith right now and desires to come closer to Jesus Christ. This past Sunday, I had the opportunity to give a talk in Sacrament meeting. Although I forgot half my talk, I relied wholly on the spirit and shared a message about faith and repentance. That night, we met with Ty and he thanked me for my talk on faith and said that he really felt the spirit. 

   I'm grateful for the authority I have to teach God's children. On Tuesday, Sister Froisland and I (we went on exchanges) taught Ty the Restoration. He expressed that he loves the discipline, organization, and simplicity of our church. At the end, he even said the closing prayer and asked for inspiration from the Book of Mormon! I am so grateful for Ty and his diligence in coming to church, praying, and pondering on the words of the scriptures. When I see our Heavenly Father's children progress, and repent--make changes in their lives-- I am filled with complete joy and an indescribable love. I'm filled with gratitude for my Heavenly Father and the Plan of Happiness which allows us to return back to His presence. I'm so grateful!

   I'm grateful for the privilege I had to shake the firm hand of ELDER DALLIN H. OAKS, an apostle of the Lord...and sit very close--front & center-- to hear him speak to us by the power of God. All of the Carlsbad missionaries also got to hear (in the same meeting) from Elder Carl B. Cook of the Seventy and our amazing mission president, President Thomas! Sitting in the same room as the Lord's servants, singing hymns and rejoicing in the Lord our God, is an experience that I will never forget. I got chills. Elder Oaks counseled us and pleaded with us to REPENT. Repent today, repent tomorrow, repent every week! Repentance is a joy. Repentance is all about the sacrament. Repentance is change! We have the privilege to be forgiven and renew our baptismal covenants every single week! Do you know how important this is? Do you know how important you are to your Father in Heaven? YOU ARE A CHILD OF GOD!Of course we will fall down, scrape our knees, make mistakes, sin, and make even more mistakes...but the atonement of Jesus Christ allows us to be clean, and to change. 

   

   I'm grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ. "A most significant evidence of our conversion and of how we feel about the gospel in our own lives is our willingness to share it with others." Are we walking the walk or just talking the talk? "We talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, and we prophesy of Christ"...but do we walk with Christ? Elder Carl B. Cook shared with us Moses 6:32-34, "Go forth and do as I have commanded thee, and no man shall pierce thee. Open thy mouth, and it shall be filled, and I will give thee utterance...Behold my Spirit is upon you, wherefore all thy words will I justify; and thou shalt abide in my, and I in you; therefore WALK WITH ME." Families and friends, I know that missionary work may be hard, it may be scary...but we are servants of the Lord! We are of a HUGE influence in His work. We are all important to the salvation of our brothers and sisters. "Now, some of you might not feel worthy of such high praise. You might think you are too insignificant to have a meaningful influence on others. Perhaps you don't even consider yourself a "disciple of faith" because you sometimes struggle with doubt or fear" (Dieter F. Uchtdorf). But whatever our age, capacity, church calling, or location, we are as one called to the work to help the Savior in His harvest of souls until He comes again."

   I'm grateful for my Savior, who died for me. 

   I'm grateful for repentance; life is filled with second chances.

   I'm grateful for the hope of eternal life.

   I'm grateful for my knowledge of eternal families.

   I'm grateful to be a missionary.

   I'm grateful for my family.

   I'm grateful for The Book of Mormon.

   I'm grateful to be serving in California.

   I'm grateful for my companion.

   I'm grateful for the ocean breeze.

   I'm grateful for the summer sun in November.

   I'm grateful for the Thanksgiving meal we are about to have.

   I'm grateful for our prophet, Thomas S. Monson.

   I'm grateful for Oregon...and trees.

   I'm grateful for my Heavenly Father who loves me.

   Let us be filled with thanks towards the one who granted us all these many blessings! "Now my brethren, we see that God is mindful of every people, whatsoever land they may be in; yea, he numbereth his people, and his bowels of mercy are over all the earth. Now this is my joy, and my great thanksgiving; yea, and I will give thanks unto my God forever. Amen" (Alma 26:37). Go serve someone this week! Share the joy of the gospel with your neighbors. I LOVE YOU ALL!! Please keep Tyrone in your prayers! And have a happy thanksgiving

Zoggy to Foggy

Dear loved ones,

I wish to write you a time-consuming rap about my new companion, Sister Fogg (I am Dr. Seuss).

"I said goodbye to Sister Zoggy,

my eyes got all wet and soggy.

Look out, here comes the Fogg,

oh wait, that's my companion...Sister Foggy.

People call her Froggy, but that's not her name.

Here is a pic of Sister Fogg with a Dog.

I love the Fogg."

It's gettin foggy up in here...(jk I wish. It's 95 degrees right now in NOV.)

but really...my new companion's name is SISTER FOGG. I'm pretty sure President Thomas assigned me to train Sis. Fogg just because it rhymes with Sis. Zogg. Just kidding, I LOVE SISTER FOGG. She is a hilarious human being. She is from Homedale, Idaho and plays the piccolo. She played the piccolo AND the flute in the Boise State Band...cool stuff.

I am incredibly grateful for President Thomas and the light that he carries with him. I'm grateful that he has blessed me with the privilege of training another new missionary. You would think that training is not fun, but after being trained and training others my whole mission...I have acquired a love for greenie fire.

 On Veterans day, we went to walk through the field of flags to ponder and appreciate those who have served our country. This spirit was so strong and as we both looked at each other in the midst of the flags, we knew what to do next. "Let's say a prayer," I said to Sister Fogg. I'm grateful for the powerful words that came out of my companions mouth that night as she prayed. Just a few minutes after the prayer, we walked up to talk to security...a woman guarding the flags. Her name was Anja and she had never heard about our church before. Sister Fogg gave her a Book of Mormon and committed her to read it (GO SISTER FOGG- 1st BOM she gave out). "Well I have to guard these flags for three more hours, I'll read this book in the meantime!" Anja said. I'm grateful for those moments when we get to testify of the restoration and the power of the Book of Mormon.

My favorite song of the week is called "I Can Do All Things," by Tanner Townsend.

"I can do all things, there's no mountain I can't climb, there's nothing I can't be. No matter how hard it may seem, I CAN DO ALL THINGS!" While listening to this song, I was reminded of my wonderful mom who always motivates and encourages me to do hard things. In Philippians 4:13 it reads, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." Although they may be hard, I'm grateful for all the trials I have faced on my mission. They have helped humble me and realize my divine purpose as a missionary and as a daughter of God. 

I want to share an analogy that an elder included in his weekly email. Sister Fogg and I have been sharing it with members all week (Thanks Elder Taylor):

"Today I wish to inspire everyone to join in to this wonderful blessing of missionary work. 

To demonstrate the seriousness of this issue I wish to use an Analogy. Imagine that you have a best friend that is sick with a deathly illness. You have the medicine that would cure his illness. You have what he needs. Now if this was all true would you say.

- I don't have time to give him this medicine.

- What if he rejects the medicine that I offer?

- I don't want to bother him today?

- Someone else will get him the medicine!

No of course not. You would do all you could to get your friend the medicine. You would make many sacrifices to make sure you saved your friends life. The gospel is the medicine. However the issue is not Life or Death, it is of a more serious nature. The gospel is the key to your friends Salvation his eternal life depends upon if you share what he needs. 

Now I am not saying missionary work is easy.... I know that is true. How could we expect eternal salvation to be easy for us, when it was never easy for our savior Jesus Christ? However missionary work is possible! Sometimes we try and complicate it. We think missionary work must be this big thing.... All we need to do is open our mouths."

The scriptures tell us, "OPEN YOUR MOUTHS AND THEY SHALL BE FILLED, & YOU SHALL BECOME EVEN AS NEPHI OF OLD, who journeyed from Jerusalem in the wilderness" (D&C 33:8).

It is so important for us to share our testimonies of the restored gospel! I promise that if you have courage and share "the medicine" of the gospel, you're testimony and love for Jesus Christ will increase. You will desire to share it with everyone, and you will be surrounded with blessings from Heaven. Share your testimony with a friend this week. Tell them how important the Book of Mormon is to you. Tell them the knowledge you have of eternal families. Most importantly, express the gratitude you have for the Savior and his gospel with all those around you.

I love you all♥♥

have a blessed week.

pics

- Happy Veterans Day! (The flags we walked through).

- we went to the Matson's for pday (mansions, gymn, lake, indoor pool, ziplines, pooltables, ballpits, raquetball room, theater, private zoo...etc.)

- Sis Fogg's 1st day on bikes...IT'S TOO HOT FOR WINTER

♥ Sister Alexis Skabelund

451 W Bobier Dr

Vista CA 92083-1906
United States

Goodbye Sister Zogg

Hi loved ones,

I'm sad to say that Sister Zogg will be leaving me here in Murrieta; she is getting transferred to Felicita with Sister Andrew (my MTC companion) just as I predicted!! Sadly, her 12 week training has come to an end... WHERE HAS THE TIME GONE? On Friday, I hit my six month mark! To my surprise, President Thomas has called me to train a new missionary once again! I will meet my companion, fresh from the MTC, tomorrow afternoon. I'm excited to see how this transfer goes!

It is finally November and we kicked it off with a great start. November 1st, we picked up a new investigator named Linda. After teaching her about the Book of Mormon, Sister Zogg said, "She seems like a really nice basher who is willing to take the lessons." Linda agreed to read the Book of Mormon, only if we agreed to hear a few Christian lessons from her. We will see how this goes... We were bummed to say goodbye to Ron, a recent-convert we have been teaching, who moved back to Boston. I hope we get to see him again, I love him! On Thursday, we taught our investigators Norma & Gabriela the restoration. They were so kind as to buy us ice cream afterwards. (: Then on Friday, all the greenies that came out with Sister Zogg...got to go to the Mormon Battalion in old town San Diego. It was really cool to go through the interactive museum! I'm grateful for the saints who were faithful to the Lord, traveling 2,000 miles to California, and leaving their families behind. You guys should go there and check it out!  

Saturday started off great when we were able to help the city put up 2,015 American flags for the Veterans Day Celebration! It was so cool to see all the flags surrounding. I'm proud to be an American. Even though our country has become a little crazy, and we don't have any good options for president...at least I know I'm free. I'm grateful we are able to exercise our beliefs and have freedom of religion! Later, we taught a guy (Todd) whom we had never met before with Brother Wright. Todd completely took over the lesson by spitting out all his memorized Bible verses and basically bashing our beliefs. We were happy that Brother Wright was there to help us out, because we were completely confused. It is sad to see some of God's children be so hard-hearted and not receptive to the spirit. But afterwards, we received a text from Todd that deepened our appreciation of our visit with him. The text said, "I do apologize for dominating the conversation. I certainly need to be a better listener." We are hoping that he will feel the spirit work within him the next time we go over! There are people that aren't prepared, people that the Lord is preparing, and people that the Lord has already prepared to receive the gospel! Share your testimony with someone this week. Help God's children to find their way back home...they are searching and they are prepared!

I'm so grateful for these past two transfers that I could spend with Sister Zogg. I have loved being her trainer, her companion, but most importantly her sister. She is amazing and has a rock-solid testimony of the Savior and his atonement. I know that the Lord really does have a plan for each of us. I was reading my patriarchal blessing this morning and I recognized how much the Savior really does know and love us. On Sunday, Sister Zogg and I had the opportunity to teach a last-minute lesson in gospel principles on charity. I think that the teacher didn't show up for a reason...we really needed to teach that lesson. Charity is the pure love of Christ. Each person went around the room and shared experiences of when they have felt charity in their lives. Charity is different from love, it is something you cannot describe. I have felt charity the most on my mission. I felt charity when I looked through the eyes of our Heavenly Father and saw God's children as he see's them. It is indescribable. I have felt it for my companion, for Gosia (a recent-convert), for Ron, for my bishop, and even for the guy who was spitting scriptures in my face. 

And Oh my goodness, we were visiting Sadie and Maria yesterday (two old ladies that we love), and they fell asleep!! THEY WERE SNORING as we taught them the restoration. One minute they would be totally answering our questions and participating, the next, they were drowsing off to sleep. HILARIOUS. We were laughing so hard. "What do we do now?" said Sister Zogg as they were both snoring during our lesson.... HAHAHA.

I know that my Redeemer lives and loves me too.♥

I love you all!

♥ Sister Alexis Skabelund

Pics=

- I love these cuties (Saylor and Kinley)

- Saying goodbye to Ron

- Pregnant for the third time

- studying on the plateau

- check out sleeping beauty