[15] 40th US President, Love for New Companions, and 'Live the Gospel Joyfully':)

Good Morning from Pismo Beach!!

We have to do emails in the library in this area instead of our church's Family History Center.  It is also timed here just like it was in Simi Valley library, so to avoid being stressed again :)  I'll just get right into it! Before I talk about my new (and beautiful!) area I am going to start with last P-day near Simi Valley...

Our Fortieth US President

Mom I know you'll be excited about this one :) So for my last P-day in Simi Valley we got special permission to go to The Reagan Presidential Library!! For the longest time we couldn't go because it was 'out of our area', but last week our District Leader gave us permission! Sister Xayadeth and I went with the other two awesome Sisters in our district, (Sister Morrison and Sister De Vries) plus Elder Canzona and Elder Spackman who were in our last District. It was a fun mini reunion! (Even though we saw them every Sunday at church) :) We were there for about two and a half hours, but I wish we could have stayed there all day. 

There was so much to learn. The History exhibits were amazing! In some rooms they had videos with clips from President Reagan's life and some of his speeches. They are so inspiring! We would sit and listen and you could tell that he believed in our country.  That he believed in a God, who also wants our country to do well and that we each could make a difference and make it better by being better ourselves and helping others.  That is also what our Church teaches! :) It made me proud to be an American :) He was also funny.  Plus he loved his wife so much <3 If any of you get a chance to visit Southern California I highly recommend stopping by at the museum for a day! (Oh and Mom, I may have bought you a birthday present while I was there but you have to wait until November:) 

Transfers!

As I mentioned last week, I have been transferred! A sweet and super generous lady/member in our ward drove Sister Xayadeth and I to Ventura for the meeting where we were to find out if we were being transferred. Although it was sad to say goodbye to my dear trainer and friend, (I just love her!) I have been so blessed to have Sister Reneer as my new companion :) We get along really well and have found out that we have a lot in common.   Sister Reneer is such a great missionary and a wonderful example to me. She has such a wonderful love for Jesus Christ and wants to do the right thing and she is filled with love for the people we serve.  I am excited to teach with and learn a bunch from her this transfer :)

Pismo Beach!

I have already fallen in love with my new area. It is absolutely gorgeous. It's like an artist is painting the different landscapes and wants to use lots of colors:) As much as I loved Simi, it is so nice to see the wonderful ocean again :) Sister Reneer and I are trying to quickly learn the area and where everything is. We are blessed that we don't have to do it alone though. Along with my new companion, I am also living with another sister companionship! (Sister Hardman and Sister Hiapo) All four of us cover the same ward so we divide the area. (And we haven't gotten lost yet:)  

This is the first time this has been done here for awhile, putting four sister together, so we've done a lot of praying to figure out what this area needs the most. I am so grateful that we can all work and serve our loving Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ together.  We all have things in common too and are becoming fast friends :)  It is neat that we all have different talents but we each can help each other and it's a blessing knowing and feeling that we are all out here for the same reason, to bring others the Gospel of Jesus Christ, so that they can have happiness and be with their families for eternity.  I am excited for a great six weeks, or how ever long, that I am blessed to be here!

General Woman's Broadcast '14!

Speaking of more blessings, we were so blessed to be able to watch the General Woman's Broadcast this weekend! If any of you missed it, I invite you to please look it up online.  Friends you too, you will be inspired as you hear the uplifting words of these great members who are really positive about life.  It was so powerful. My favorite part was the talk by President Uchtdorf. His words were exactly what I needed to hear. And things I had been praying about.  I don't have time right now to go into everything I liked about his talk and others, but I really like him saying 'It is good to remember that you are always a child of God. This knowledge will carry you through the most difficult times in your life and will inspire you to accomplish remarkable things.'  And I really liked when he said 'In other words, live the Gospel Joyfully!'  We want that to be our motto as we serve here.  How wonderful to get inspiration continually by our church leaders.  Speaking of which this week is...

General Conference Weekend - Oct 2014!

Always one of my favorite weekends.  I am so excited that we will be able to hear from our dear loving Prophet and his kind Apostles this week. They have such powerful testimonies and their words are inspired. Each talk can touch us differently as we apply them to our lives. Everyone please listen to it.   Whether you go in person, watch it online, or listen to it by radio, I know the words spoken will help with whatever you are going through right now.  I believe you are loved more than you know, and I believe you can be able to feel that as you listen to the talks this weekend.

Ok I have about 10 minutes left and I need to print my emails to read later:) I appreciate your letters, notes and emails so much!  It's great hearing from home, friends, family. It really means so much.   Thank you for being one of my biggest blessings that I thank my Heavenly Father for in my prayers.

I love you all!

Keep the Faith:)

Sister Skinner - Karatassos

[14] One Hour Church, Goodbyes For Now, and 'Each Life That Touches Ours For Good':)

Good Morning (Afternoon/Night) Everyone!  (I know papa is in a different time zone in India) :)

Mighty Miracles

For the last month our ward has been doing a 40 day fast! The purpose of the fast was to pray for missionary work and service ideas.  We have been seeing miracles from it already :) Each day a family signs up to fast for two meals and it has been going great! Our ward is an inspiration to me of being Christ-like and caring about others.  Sister X and I get to stop by the night before to give the awesome families a binder with a sheet to fill out for any names that come to mind, or to hear about any spiritual experiences they have, or even if they just have some people that they would like special prayers for, who might be having a difficult time. 

Many members have been telling us that it has been a different experience for them to fast at work rather than fast Sunday. It has helped them to think of spiritual things throughout the day. Some of them even have had some co-workers come up to them and ask question about the Church and other church related questions, and that hasn't always happened. They said they really enjoyed sharing their testimony with their friends. 

As we have been working we have been seeing miracles too! The other day we got a text from a girl named (A) that said "Would you be willing to come teach me about the Book of Mormon?" and we were like "Ummm yes! Of course!" We went over and had a beautiful lesson with her. It was such a great feeling as she asked so many excellent questions. We read a chapter in the Book of Mormon with her and invited her to church.   She said she would come, but sadly at the the last minute she canceled :( BUT (A) said she still wants to learn more and we have a return appointment with her so hopefully she will continue to feel the spirit and that will help her with what she needs right now.

Another miracle we had was with our dear friends, the family we have been teaching with the two kids, (who like dinosaurs so much.) :)  This last week our lesson was on our temples and it's ordinances.  We started by saying what a blessing it is to have so many beautiful buildings around the world where we can go to feel closer to heaven. We then talked about eternal families. Our families are a gift from our Heavenly Father and and He has made a way so that we can be with our families forever! When we go to the temple we are sealed together for eternity. What an amazing blessing! We asked the mom, Mrs (S), if going to the temple to be together with her family is something she would want to work towards and she said yes! She looked so happy and we must have looked so happy too! Yayayay! We so want this special family to be together for eternity! It was wonderful :) Their family didn't come to church this week because of previous plans, but they should be there next week for the children's Primary Program, so hopefully (and prayerfully) all will continue to go well!

One Hour Church?

Speaking of church, our meeting was only one hour yesterday. Crazy huh? ;) I think being brought up in the Church you get use to three+ hours on Sundays:) The singles ward needed our building so we only had sacrament meeting. It turned out to be such great Sacrament meeting because we had a senior couple return from their mission this week so they gave their homecoming talks. They served in the Washington D.C. temple and I was like 'that's my temple!!'  I love it so much :) It was fun to hear about their adventures and experiences as missionaries and that I knew the area they were talking about. I look forward to going to the DC temple again and many others when I get home.

This is Goodbye?

So this week is transfers! The good news is that Sister Xayadeth gets to stay in Sanata Susana 5th ward, but I am being transferred! I was kind of expecting it but I am going to miss this area so much!   I am also excited because I am going to ... *drum roll* ... Pismo Beach! I'll get to see the ocean! We aren't allowed to swim are play around in the sand, but I can admire it from afar :) Oceans are so beautiful to me and bring me peace just looking at them. I'm so grateful to our Heavenly Father and Jesus who created an earth with so much beauty for us to enjoy. It reminds me that we are not suppose to just exist but to enjoy our beautiful surroundings that were created for us.

I'll try to get some good pictures for next week. And as much as I will miss this area, I will miss Sister Xayadeth much much more! We have become the best of friends :) She is such a great example of service and love and has helped me so much to get adjusted to my mission life here. She has a strong testimony of Jesus Christ and the Gospel and a very kind heart. 

To explain our relationship I will use a Disney analogy:)   Remember in Monsters University when Sully and Mike first become roommates? As they get ready in the morning they keep running into each other, but as time goes on they find a routine and they are just in perfect sync. That is how it has been with Sister Xayadeth! We have similar personalities and we have really become close these last three months. I will miss her, but I know she will continue to do great things in Simi Valley, her light is so bright:) 

1 John 3:23 - 'And this is His commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and Love one another...'

 Sing A Happy Song

So I was thinking of things to stay positive with transfer and other things and I came across this Hymn and it fit perfectly with the people I am meeting here on my mission. Both my companion and my loving ward here. 

 Hymn 293 "Each Life That Touches Ours For Good"

Each life that touches ours for good

Reflects thine own great mercy Lord

Thou sendest blessings from above

Thru words and deeds of those who love

What greater gift dost thou bestow

What greater goodness can we know

Than Christ-like friends whose gentle ways

Strengthen our faith, enrich our days

Thank you for being my wonderful friends! And thank you for strengthening my faith, and enriching my days.  I appreciate any prayers for me, and I know that they will help lead me to do what I should do in my new area.

Love you all,

You each have a special place in my heart,

Sister Skinner - Karatassos

Pictures - (9/22/14) Mt. McCoy Hill, We've Got Mail, and a Loving Mission President & Wife:)

 Last PDay together we hiked the Mt.McCoy Hill in Simi Valley.  Isn't the blue sky beautiful?:) You can see this cross from very far away, and when you get to it you have a beautiful view as well. (Mom could you look up Mt. McCoy, we hear the cross has been there a long time.)

Here is some info: "Tradition suggests that a cross has existed atop Mt. McCoy since the early 1800s, when the cross served both as a religious symbol and as a beacon on the El Camino Real (King's Highway). Travelers between San Fernando and San Buenoventura Missions rested along the way at El Rancho Simi.The existing reinforced concrete cross is said to have been placed there in 1941.  Today the Rotary Clubs in Simi Valley illuminate the cross during Easter week.

 

Using our super strength to get to the top. 'Endure to the end':)

"We've Got Mail!" - this was such a fun time! 

Thank you Family!

 

Sweet Sister X favorite was the church articles & leaf 

sugar cookies.

 

Pretty Sister D with some homemade treats and Frozen. 

Frozen is her favorite:)

 

Sister M's with her super smile and fun prizes. Thank you for 

thinking of all four of us! 

Mom you asked for a picture and I got it at Zone conference:)  

I asked our wonderful Mission President, President Felix and his 

beautiful sweet wife for a picture. They are so loving and kind 

to all the missionaries and to each other. How they treat 

everyone is how I picture Heaven will be like. :)

 

MTC companion reunion at Zone Conference, yay!! Sister E and 

Sister B. Also, Elder and Sister Malm of the Seventy came and spoke 

with us and it was so good. Oh and if we look a bit hot, we are, it's 100+ 

outside when we took this picture :D

[13] Song of the Heart, Bright Moments and Scatter Sunshine (Even If It's 106) :)

Good Morning from California!

Scatter Sunshine

This past week the temperatures have been in the 100s! (One hundred and six to be exact) :) Sister Xayadeth and I are grateful that we have a car so that we can blast the A/C in between knocking on doors looking for service. We know we are so blessed to have a missionary vehicle. We are thankful for it and always add it to our 'grateful for blessings' part of our prayers.  We also keep water with us at all times and try not to melt :)

We still have been doing a lot of finding, so we are knocking pretty much everyday. As we talk to different people we have also been trying to push the JustServe program. We ask everyone we meet if they need any help or know of any service opportunities we could help with.  I am so glad for this program.  It has been a huge blessing. At zone conference they told us that offering service softens hearts, and it's true! When people first open the door and see us many of them say "We have our own religion!" Which we are pretty use to now and are happy they have faith and a religion, but then we smile and say we are looking for ways to serve our community and would love to help them in any way. I think they see that we really mean it and are not just trying to bother them. They are very surprised after that. Most say no thank you, but are more willing to take a Mormon.org card from us after that:) 

Here's one example. One time this guy saw we were missionaries and asked us if we wanted to fight (in a joking way, but he didn't seem interested in what we had to say) He wasn't really a 'basher' though. After we said we were looking for service he completely warmed up to us and basically told us his life story! It was great! It truly testifies to me that the Lord's way is the right way. What did He do while He was here, He was serving Heavenly Father's children. He was doing good continually and that thought helps my companion and I keep going and loving to serve.

More Bright Moments:)

We had another miracle at church this week. The wonderful family that came to church last week came again this week!!! They even came to our sacrament! The kids love practicing for the primary program which is in a couple of weeks and their mom enjoyed coming too. It felt so amazing when we saw them walk in yesterday. It's hard to explain the overwhelming happiness felt for them. As a missionary it's incredible having this love you feel for others. And I love this family so much. It is wonderful to have them come to our church and feel the Spirit, hear the sweet music and know they are loved by us and their Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ:)

Song of the Heart

My thought this week is focused on music! As many of you know as missionaries we don't listen to the radio or songs on the top 10 list of iTunes. We mostly listen to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir :) They have done so many beautiful songs and hymns, and I'm thankful that they are known world round, as part of our LDS church.  So I think they are wonderful, BUT recently we found a Christian store and they have some great music too. The CD's they have are a little more modern, but still have great messages about Jesus Christ.  Also the Elders, who didn't really like our music :) gave us some awesome music to listen to. (Yanni is amazing music.) And my family in Montana sent me great music too. (Especially my favorite Prince of Egypt! We listen to that on repeat.) Thank You!

So as we have been listening to them in the car I realized how much music has an effect on us. As we listen to these uplifting songs, it gives us motivation to work and be happy! 

In my studies this morning, I found these two great scriptures about singing:

D&C 25:12 "For my soul delighteth in the song of the heart, yea the song of the righteous is a prayer unto me. and  it shall be answered with a blessing on their heads."

D&C 136:28 "If thou art merry, praise the Lord with singing, with music, with dancing, and with a prayer of praise and thanksgiving"

I'm thankful that we are blessed to be able to have beautiful music in our lives. And that it's not just a small thing, but that the Lord knows that it is good for us.  "If thou art merry". I love those verses! They make me happy.

Until next week, hope you get to listen to some great music:)

I love you all,

Sister Skinner-Karatassos

Pictures (9/15/14) Dinosaur Licenses, Music for the Soul, and Santa Susana Sunrise:)

 

Thank you Grandpa Jordan for sending me these

Dinosaur Licenses from Utah!  These are the adorable kids

Sister X and I teach with their mother. They like

Dinosaurs so much and said 'This is the greatest gift ever' :)

 

 

Their mom also sent me this picture with me and them. 

The little boy is making his 'Dinosaur Face' :)

 

The Elders gave me some music because a few of the ones I

I bought at the Christen store didn't turn out, some were great. But they 

didn't think much of that music at all. Haha! As I mentioned in my letter we can 

not listen to regular music or the radio, but we are able to listen to music our 

Mission President approves, and one is Yanni, so Beautiful! 

(Papa I really like the Greek music at the Acropolis one!)

 

Yep that is the correct temperature, it's 102 degrees at the moment.

It was 106 yesterday! We appreciate the little breaks in the car with beautiful 

music, then back out to serve again. Don't worry mom I am drinking

lots of water! :)

 

Thank you Dad and Marci mom for the music! I was so happy

to get the Prince of Egypt music (One of my favorites! And we play it on 

Repeat. So happy it's approved listening music for us.) Good music has 

such a wonderful influence on us and helps us set an uplifting

mood and spirit all the time.

 

Beautiful Santa Susana Sunrise after the wonderful rain.

Almost seemed like fall with the sunlight making the trees

look orange in the morning and the air being crisp.

Then it went back to the 100+ degrees :)

[12] Thankful for Mini Miracles, Sister M, and Little Children shall lead them:)

Good Monday Morning Everyone!

A mini miracle happened this morning! So we have been told that it hardly ever rains in Southern California, but this morning the sky was dark gray and everything outside was really wet! It was so exciting! The air seemed nice and clear.  And temperatures were cooled down too.  I feel like it was a blessing from Heavenly Father for his daughter from Pennsylvania who does miss the rain :)

Exchanges Take Two

I had my second exchange of my mission this week with Sister Snow! It went really well. I got to go to her area this time so I slept at her mission apartment. It was a little weird to be away from my 'home' :) but you have to get used to change on a your mission :) Our goal we set for the day, was to share special scriptures with everyone we met. At first I was pretty nervous because I don't have a lot of scripture references memorized. I do like to talk about a scripture and try to explain it, but I don't know where it is, you know? :) But as the day went on it got better and better. Plus Sister S. helped a lot. She is amazing! She could be called Sister S for Scriptures, instead of Snow.  As someone was talking she was able to use a scripture that matched perfectly with what they were talking about. I think that is a wonderful talent and Sister Snow is wonderful.  We saw a lot of miracles that day and seemed to be in the right place at the right time in many cases :)  I also noticed that spending a whole day focusing on scriptures and thinking of the right ones to help people, helped us and helped us feel lifted and positive.

Also one of the best things that happened is that we had an appointment with one of Sister Snow's investigators who has a baptismal date! He is a cute little man in his early 70's and he has such a sweet and sincere testimony of Jesus Christ. He was excited to see us when we got there. It's a great feeling to be met with such a happy smile.  He says he loves "his church sisters" haha. It was neat to be able to teach him about missionary work that evening. Oh! And do you remember wonderful Sister Mason who I went on my first exchanges with last time?  Sadly she had to go home a little early from her mission last week, because of painful migraines. But to show you how amazing Sister M is, she is planning on coming to this dear man's baptism! She has even kept up with him and calls him a few times to make sure he is staying strong and still following our Word of Wisdom. Sweet Sister M has helped him a lot and you can tell he loves her. She has so much love for others and she is such a wonderful missionary with or without a tag :) 

They Came To Church!

So we have been teaching this family for a couple weeks now. The dad is a member of our church, but his wife and kids aren't. We have been going by and doing little lessons with the kids each week. (It sure is an uplifting feeling when we are able to go to our planned appointments.) :)  The little children are 7 and 4 and they are so cute!!  They listen well to the lessons and we try to make them fun by having activities and visuals.  It's like having our own little Family Home Evening.  Their mom loves the lessons too and will sit in and listen. Lately, we have been working on getting their family to come to church with us. The parents have nothing against it, but they are always very busy on their Sundays.  

This week a miracle happened! We told the mom, Mrs. S, about the primary program the last time we taught the kids and she thought that was a great idea.  This is a special primary program that all the different LDS wards do around the world once a year.  The primary leaders do a singing/talking program with 3yr-11yr old kids.   So this Sunday the whole family came and the kids were able to practice the songs with the rest of the primary! It was awesome! The whole ward was so happy to see them. Many people came up to greet them and talk to them. That is one of the many things I love about this Church. So many people care about one another and try to help support each other. There is so much love in the church each Sunday :) We pray our little family will be back next Sunday, and we are looking forward to the Primary Program. (One of my favorite Sundays of the year. Singing children are adorable! :)

And so for my thought this week, two scriptures about teaching children.

Deuteronomy 6:6-7 - "And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto they children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house and when thou walkest by the way..." 

Mark 10:14-16 "But when Jesus saw it, He was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein. And he took them up in his arms, put his hands upon them and blessed them."     I feel and believe it is important to our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ that we teach these little children. I'm thankful I get to help do that in small parts here and there.

I love you all so much! Your continued support means a lot to me :)

Keep in touch and Keep smiling,

Love,

Sister Skinner - Karatassos

Pictures (9/8/14) - Sweet Ward Sisters, Weekly Food Pics, and Our Transportation:)

Our ward had a fun Relief Society Dinner and they invited us 

Sisters :) Aren't the colorful center pieces pretty? And so are 

all the women!

I love these women. They are wonderful examples to me. 

They each are trying to be the best they can and they open 

their homes to us missionaries and always make us feel welcome.  

It's wonderful being part of a church that teaches us

to be Christ-like and loving. They are great at it. 

Sister Snow and I! We both like yellow cardigans :) She is 

so smart, pretty and terrific!

While I was on exchanges with Sister S, she took me to this 

Hawaiian restaurant for dinner and we got teriyaki bowl! 

(you probably know by now that's one of my favorites!) 

 It was pretty awesome. They had Hawaiian music playing 
and I felt like I was back on Oahu :)I even told the owner 
'Mahalo' and it seemed to make him happy! 

Sister Xayadeth had another doctor appointment that was out 

of our mission area, and so that meant that we were able to have 

Chick-fil-a' for lunch. Btw, thank you to those who asked about 

Sister X and her dr. apts. She has been having painful stomach 

problems while on her mission but she keeps doing her best.  

We pray she'll get better and be healed.

Her mission ends this December. I will miss her.

Here is another food picture! Hahaha! (Mom you are getting a 

collection of the local native cuisine of my mission!) :D  

At In-N-Out Burger, Taco Bell and 

now Chick-fil-A :D

Here is our Transportation! Kenny and Kevin need to give

it a name. (Our family would always name the vehicles that we rented on

family vacations.) What do you think brothers?

[11] Zone Conference, Just Serve and Everything is Awesome!:)

Dear Family and Friends, Hi and Hello!

Happy Labor Day Everyone! Hope everyone has a good day. And I hope you have fun eating hamburgers and ice cream (our family tradition) :) and enjoying time with your friends and families!  A sweet couple in our ward, who are just amazing, and get along so well, that they make people happy just to be around them.  They invited us over for a yummy barbecue they are having which was really nice of them! It will help our P-Day feel more like a Holiday too.


FAMILY MATTERS AND CATCHING UP

Happy (late) First Day of School dear brothers:) and everyone who has started or starting soon!

That's great that Kenny picked up his new saxophone from the  music store! That is so exciting. We will all have to play a song or two together (maybe Christmas songs) when I get back! :)

I'm glad our ward at home, went on a temple trip to Palmyra, NY. The pictures you sent mom were great and just made me smile.  (I wish there would have been one of all the awesome youth that went though!) :) I am so thankful for the times that we went as a family and as a ward to the temples.  It was some of those temple trips that helped me to know the spirit and love that we can always have with us. And that this life isn't just about the here and now, but the eternities as well.  What a wonderful blessing to live in a day where there are many temples to attend and even more being built!  The temples are like no other place on earth.  I'm also grateful for the times when I was at BYUH and I was able to go to the Laie temple with my friends there.  I hope everyone is trying to go as much as they can. I know things get very busy, I always feel so busy on days like today, our PDay...  but you won't regret a day at the temple:)

Thank you for sending me Jeremiah's mission farewell talk! I really liked it. I can tell he's going to be an amazing missionary. It was great to read that he quoted that scripture we (mom and I) both like so much about 'angels round about you, to bear you up.'  (D&C 84:88) It always helps to know that you are not alone and not expected to do this on your own.  (And I loved the Lion King reference in it too!!) :D

ZONE CONFERENCE

I had my first zone conference this week! So it made our week Awesome!  It went from 9:30am to 5:30pm. It was great to meet so many other missionaries in my zone and to hear the inspired words from our kind Mission President. It is a good feeling knowing that we are in this together and we are trying to do our best and serve.  I was also reunited with Sister E and Sister S from the MTC! It felt like a family reunion:)  It was such a great day of hugs and smiles! 

Because I am a new missionary, at the beginning of the Zone meeting I had to go up and bear my testimony in front of our whole group. I thought I would be scared but I felt (mostly) calm and it's great when the Spirit can help you out like that.  I shared how grateful I am to be a missionary at this time and in this place.  And to have the gospel in my life. I said that without it, my life would be so very different and I know I would not feel the peace and happiness that I do.  It brings me real happiness and I am so glad I can share it with others! I want others to be as happy as I am :) It was also special to look out at all these Elders and Sisters when I was bearing my testimony and see them all looking up and some with smiles on their faces and know that we are all on the Lord's side.  It's wonderful that they love our Savior too and are making sacrifices as well. Singing lots of beautiful church Hymns all together was also a very spiritual and uplifting feeling as well. It sounded like angels were singing with us.  So thankful for Zone Conference.

JUST SERVE!

The main discussion of our Zone Conference was about this New Program that is going to be great! It is a website called Just Serve which has been tested in a few missions so far. Its main purpose is to help us find more service opportunities in our community!  Such an amazingly good idea.  We are now changing our service hours from five to ten hours per week!  I am excited to get started! Plus doing service will not only help us fill the less productive hours during the day, but the tests have shown that it also helps all the missionary health as well! I mean, who doesn't feel good after doing service? :) I always felt good in Young Women's in our ward, when we would do service for others, like food and clothes donations and helping out schools in the city.  

This program is not just for missionaries. Anyone can sign up online and volunteer or post projects they need help with. In fact, we just had a meeting during third hour in church yesterday about this exciting website. Our ward was invited to make an account, so I invited all of you to do the same! It is free and the projects are based on your zip code. You will be notified by email when there is a new project in your area.   Projects can range from community clean ups, blood banks, food shares, so so much more! You can register here if you are interested http://www.justserve.org/

AND WE DID!

So right after Zone Conference we texted a nice lady in our ward to confirm dinner with her for the next day. She answered and then told us about a Service opportunity we could do if we were interested. We had just been so uplifted by hearing about Just Serve so we were like "yes please!" Then the next day we headed to a food share that another Sister in our ward was in charge of. It was so much fun to help! We got three hours of service in one day! It was amazing to help out others!  Since we were being taught to do good, it reminded me of the song 'I Am a Child of God' - "Teach me all that I must do". You just know that Heavenly Father and Jesus love all of these people so much and it's good to know what to do to help them. 

EVERYTHING IS AWESOME 

I thought some of you would enjoy this story, especially my brothers Kenny and Kevin:)  In Ward Council last week our Ward Mission leader was asked to give a spiritual thought. Instead of a scripture or a story from an Ensign article (church magazine) like people usually use, he quoted the song "Everything is Awesome" from the Lego Movie! He said there are great things around us all the time and we should be grateful for what we have. He told us that he has even made that song his ringtone to remind himself to count his blessings.   Then later in the week on Wednesday Sister Xayadeth and I met with him for Correlation Meeting. While we were talking his phone went off and I may or may not have started dancing in my chair :) So that is the thought I leave with you all this week, remember that the World is Awesome!  -  2 Nephi 9:3 "Behold, my beloved brethren, I speak unto you these things that ye may rejoice, and lift up our heads forever, because of the Blessings which the Lord God shall bestow upon your children."  If you want a brighter day, remember Count your blessings!

I love you all, and I think of you all,  

I hope you are doing well in each of your days!

Hugs and prayers,

Sister Skinner - Karatassos

Pictures (9/01/14) - A' La Casserole, Service with a Smile, the Best Handouts:)

First picture of the week - a food picture:) 

Sister X and I made a chicken casserole for our dinner! 

It's our first homemade casserole on our mission!

A member gave us the recipe and it's so good! I'll send it to you Mom :)

This is the road on the way to the Stake Center we met at for Zone Conference :)

Isn't that an awesome sign? :) 

Getting ready to attend (my first) Zone Conference

Service with a smile! It was such a great day and feeling

to help out at the Food Share project!

Some of the food donations to help others.

Mom always says, 'it always seems like when you do good, good

things happen right back, give out bread and it comes back buttered.') :)

After our service at the Food Share, we got paid in flowers! 

They sure brighten up our little mission apartment!

 Our wonderful, fun and loving Bishop, Bishop Page. He is going

to Hawaii (yay!) for the next two weeks so we asked to get our picture with him!

The Service Gloves they gave us as a handout at our Zone Conference.

Such a Cute and Sweet idea.

"Christ knows how to minister to others PERFECTLY. When the

Savor stretches out HIS HANDS those he touches are uplifted and become

greater, stronger and better as a result. If we are HIS HANDS, should we

not do the same?"