Missionary Keli

I just tried to post a picture on here..but for whatever reason it did not work, so you will have to go to FB for that picture..

Yesterday I uploaded to FB a picture of my missionary companion and myself in Simi Valley,CA in September 2000.

I was with Carrie Ann Christensen Melton. I will tell you a story about when I was her companion.

As I said in a earlier story I REALLY wanted to speak English on my mission. I mean I REALLY wanted to.. and My bishop here in VA was like " maybe the Lord does not want you to talk" .......well guess what HE DID because I got sent to the California Ventura Mission speaking ENGLISH.

The first six months of my mission I served in Bakersfield,CA with Sisters, Amato, Smith, and Weight..then transfers came...

transfer night was HUGE in my mission and I mean HUGE... we would stay up late and wait for the Elders to call us and tell us where we were going to go.. and before that we would write ALL our predictions on a white board.. ALL the English speaking sisters .. and ALL the Elders we cared about..

So transfers came and they said that Sister Weight and I BOTH were leaving! I forgot where Sister Weight went but I remember them telling me that I was going to SANTA PAULA, CA.. like um...what??

WHERE????

WHAT???

SANTA WHERE???? and I was going to be with Sister C. Christensen...I am sorry I am going to be with WHO????

 no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no.................I don't KNOW this C. Christensen... I mean what is her NAME..?? COME ON.. and she is a SPANISH SPEAKING SISTER.. I mean she was white and from Idaho but she was a SPANISH SPEAKING SISTER... like what the what??? and Santa Paula was a SPANISH AREA.. we would be going into an area that was for the most part all MEXICAN... ALL...no no no no no no no no no...this was BEYOND UNFAIR...no no no no no..where the FREAK was SANTA PAULA and who was SISTER C. Christensen...

also she wanted to leave Bakersfield earlier in the morning...like um NO... I need to go around and take pictures of everything that I never got a chance to take pictures of in the 6 months that I was there.. and um...I need to drive around and say goodbye to all the cool members .......like NOOOOOOOOOOOO... so Sister Weight and I did not show up till really late to meet her.. and she was LEAVING.. I barely caught Sister C. Christensen...I was like WHY DIDN'T you wait.??? she was like you are lucky you caught me.. I said um didn't you want to drive around and take pictures and say goodbye to all the cool members... she was like I did what I had time to do but we need to get to Santa Paula.. we are missionaries and have missionary work to do...

oh....yeah...................missionary work.... !

writing this I can't BELIEVE HOW SELFISH I WAS...I seriously can't believe it..I felt so horrible about myself.. I had had a companion that had passed around crazy rumors about me.. and I felt like they just pushed me off on this Spanish speaking sister because no English speaking one " wanted me" that I was just worthless...

.............and deep down inside that is how I felt..worthless...

Also I think of how hard of a time that Sister Christensen who I later found out was named Carrie, must have had with me.. I mean not only was I a BRAT.. she had to clean out the whole apartment mostly by herself.. while I sat around because " well it did not really need it" and I would just sit around reading the Ensign or the scriptures..

She had to do EVERY door intro ...every discussion.. every, every thing...while I pouted and acted horrible and was SO MEAN TO HER...!!!!

like when are we going to hang out and have some FUN!!!!?????

and we would get in arguments where I would be SO MAD AT HER... and I would cry...

then one day..Sister Christensen sat down beside me and gave me a big hug and said Sister Wright I feel like you just need love... and well I love you ... and I was like..............well I was humbled...and we just sat there for a long time ...me crying and her hugging me...

 

slowly but surely things changed ..we became great friends..and even BETTER companions... we were able to baptize two amazing people in that area..one who went on to do HUNDREDS of names in the temple..

Sister Christensen showed me not only HOW to be a missionary and what it MEANT to be a missionary but what it meant to love...and how to accept love.. and for that I am always grateful!

 

Turns out that during my tenure in the CVM I was the highest baptizing missionary ..it is scary to think what would have happened to me or even where I would be now.. if Sister Christensen (who was stuck going to a Spanish area with a sister that only spoke English who was a selfish brat.. )

had not loved me...

 

..."as I have loved you..love one another this new commandment love one another..by this shall men know ye are my disciples..if ye have love one for another..."

 

PS the picture I put up is from later in our missions when we were in Simi Valley, CA and had different companions but were GREAT FRIENDS!!! I gave her that dress she is wearing :)