HELLO!

 Hello everyone, and happy New Year! We don't have any wild plans to bring in 2013, if any of you were wondering... but that's okay haha no big deal.

This last week has been tons of fun! It was so awesome to be able to Skype the fam :) it was just like being at home, I loved every second of it! I'm so glad everyone is doing well. I am also glad that the Redskins are doing well, obviously. I also still haven't received all of my Christmas packages :( there are at least two sitting in the mission office! I am not sure when I will get them, hopefully soon?

We continue to put in our 100%. Something that I've noticed in the last few weeks that is really cool is that our level of success runs somewhat parallel to our diligence. Now, I haven't really noticed that pattern before... I'm not sure why. BUT regardless, it's REALLY cool to see direct correlation between what I am giving and the results of what I give. So often, we don't get to reap the seeds that we sow... being able to do that is a unique blessing. I hope this continues throughout my time in Chichester, throughout my mission for that matter. We've basically just been doing TONS of knocking. We were able to have nine doorstep lessons in four days. Now, that might not seem like a lot haha but in this area in this mission I find it significant! 

I am learning so much each and every day. Conditions are not ideal and no day is perfect. There are always challenges involved. If we put our trust in the Lord, however, we can meet those challenges head on. We can strive to be the best we can. When we mess up, we can humble ourselves before the Lord and repent- thus allowing us to constantly be changing and improving. Eternal progression is just that- eternal. It's not something for the future. It's a process that began before we got here, that must continue here, and will never end. It is a process that is constantly difficult, but will bring forth constant joy in a way that nothing else can. We need to always be living the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I hope some of that made at least marginal amounts of sense! :)

Everything is moving along slowly, but surely. The coming weeks will contain excitement, I know it. I love you all so much and feel your prayers! I know that the work that I do is the Lord's work- it will move forward and it will move forward with power!

With love,

Elder Frederickson

Merry Christmas Eve :)

Hello! So I am REALLY short on time today, because we are having a Zone P-Day in Southampton which is on the opposite side of the Zone. So this will just be a collective of thoughts that are related in no way, some spiritual and some not! :)

-HAIL TO THE REDSKINS... always makes me smile when I find out they win! Thanks to Dad for keeping me updated :) proud to have been a fan all of these years and to be able to say I am not a bandwagoner

-Last night, I remembered the whole #OccupyRexburg debacle and I laughed to myself

-Chichester is making TONS of progress... we are finally seeing the fruits of our labors! We are working closely with President in rearranging some things logistically about the area (flat location, etc) in order to maximize our effeciency in carrying out the Lord's work here. I think it will make a MASSIVE difference!

-Tomorrow is Christmas! I hope everyone has a MERRY CHRISTMAS!

-I got an email from Elder Castro this morning informing me that one of our converts, Charlie, blessed the Sacrament yesterday :) that was one of the best presents that I could've gotten... it seriously made my day.

-Thanks to everybody who has sent Christmas cards and packages... you all mean the WORLD to me :)

-I won't have time to reply to all my emails today, but I will do my best to next week

-It's SO hard to believe that 2012 is pretty much over... 2013 will be a year that will be dedicated in it's whole to serving the Lord, and that is so exciting for me!

-Chichester ward is great and is taking care of me well! That being said, I miss Trowbridge and everyone there a lot as well.

-You're all in my prayers and I feel your prayers daily, they mean a lot.

-There is no such thing as too much news from home...

That's about all that is in my head right now.

Hope all of you have the merriest Christmas possible :)

With love,

Elder Frederickson

Christmas is in the Air!

Happy Holidays! Christmas is a week from tomorrow and I just cannot wait!

Things are going great in Chichester. I have recovered from my ankle and knee injury that I'm not quite sure when/how I sustained it. But it didn't stop us from working and it's all better now so it's all good. We continue to focus mostly on finding people to teach and it continues to be qutie difficult. We are meeting so many great people, setting return appointments, and preparing lessons for them... but then we get flogged almost every time. It's a pretty disheartening routine to be in, to be honest. That's okay though! We are being blessed for our diligence with many teaching opportunities that we didn't anticipate! Although the work is slow, it is most defintely moving in the right direction. As long as it does that, it will eventually get where it needs to be.

The current situation continues to be humbling but also continues to be rewarding. I am learning so much that I know I will be able to apply throughout my life. I have also now lost 50 pounds since I reported to the MTC. Not sure if that's awesome or a tad bit worrisome. Other than all of that, this week has not been all that enthralling. I'm really looking forward to this week- the Christmas conference will be a blast and I can't wait to go through the temple again- I haven't been able to go since June. I have a lot to ponder about and there is no better place to learn than the House of the Lord. It is such an incredible opportunity to have a temple in our mission boundaries!

My apologies for, once again, having so little to write about. There just isn't that much happening here... yet! :)

Hope you all have a WONDERFUL week! I love you all so much! I know that this church is true! Anything that we ask our Father in Heaven, we will have answered. He will bless us for all the we do. He knows each of us perfectly. I have a strong knowledge of that.

With love,
Elder Frederickson

Six more weeks in Chichester!

So, I'm going to be here in Chichester with Elder Grachyov for (at least) six more weeks! The other area in our district, Portsmouth, got white-washed SO we are now the most senior members of our district... at three weeks hahaha. The new people are a new missionary and his trainer (who I haven't heard of) so that should be lots of fun. Moves week was relatively mundane- there were very few moves because Christmas around the corner. Only 28 of the missionaries were impacted by moves.

In all truthfulness, this week hasn't been very exciting. We have been doing LOTS AND LOTS of knocking and street contacting. Since we arrived we have found about 60 potential investigators, the majority of whom were also given Book of Mormons. Each and every one that we had a return appointment with flogged us. It's pretty frustrating, but I know that if we're doing all we can, the Lord will fill in the blanks.

I am SO excited for next Wednesday, we will be having a Christmas Conference! Portsmouth zone will be having the conference with Reading and Staines zones, so I won't see most of my friends in the mission but I suppose that is okay! I am just excited to be able to do a temple session and pick up all of the Christmas stuff that I hope is at the office :)

I am so grateful to be a missionary! Although the last few weeks certainly haven't been the easiest ones of all time, that isn't how it's supposed to be. I know that everything that the Lord does has a purpose, I know I am here for a reason. I just need to make the most out of these next 18 months! I know that so long as I am doing my best work here in Chichester, the Lord will provide!

Sorry this is really short, guys- there really just isn't that much going on right now hahahaha if you are ever wondering what I am doing, there is a VERY good chance it's just knocking or talking to people on the streets.

Oh and... I CAN'T WAIT FOR CHRISTMAS :)


Love, Elder Frederickson

Chi town, Chi town, we gonna show 'em how we get down!

Greetings everyone! The subject line is from a Kanye West song... I couldn't resist using it, seeing as my area is CHIchester. I hope that doesn't make me a dreadful person. I don't think it does.

Anyways, this last week has been fantastic! Is it difficult? Yes. Have I been humbled? Oh yes. Would I ever change that? Absolutely not.

We had a Zone Conference with Elder Kearon from the Area Presidency today. President Millar kicked off the conference with a VERY humbling presentation regarding the number of baptisms in our mission the last three years compared to the number of baptisms in the rest of the European missions. Basically our numbers our dreadful. He then revolved the rest of his words around the quotation "where do we go from here?" He told us what needs to be done to make the work move in the direction it needs to be moving. We need to more fully apply the the principles contained in another humbling missionary experience- when President Hinckley received the letter instructing him to forget himself and go to work. This all relates to my goal that I set at the begginning of this transfer- to consecrate myself to the Lord more fully each and every day.

On a lighter note, it was great to see a bunch of my friends from the Bristol Zone and from my MTC group. We had a great time catching up and talking about our various missionary adventures. I also received my pre-Christmas package (which I LOVE by the way, thank you so much!) and a letter from Grandma/Grandpa Frederickson. I loved all of it, many thanks.

Our flat is all decorated for Christmas, we were not messing around regarding this. It looks amazing and I try and have Christmas music on as much as I can. It's hard to believe it is so SOON! If I have time, I'll include some pictures!

Chichester is such a cool place to serve. It's a lot bigger than I anticipated and transport is also quite tough. It's similar to Trowbridge, but instead of getting direct trains, we have to change trains if we are going anywhere besides Havant (which is where pretty much all the members live- not quite sure why the chapel is in Chichester.) That is okay though, it just means we have to be creative and efficient with our planning (those who know me know that budgeting time is NOT a strength of mine.)

In other news, we were contained in our flat yesterday, as Elder Grachyov was sick. I wasn't really sick so I read the majority of "Teachings of the Presidents of the Church: Wilford Woodruff" and wrote some letters/Christmas Cards. I sent off like five letters today, by the way! I still have a few more I need to write but I think I'll have time for that today? We shall see!  I ended up being sick kind of... I randomly woke up in the middle of the night feeling VERY and threw up (it was NOT pleasant...) but I have felt just fine other than that so let's hope I am all better for good. I wanted to throw in a How I Met Your Mother reference using the "Vomit-free Since '93" line but I'm just not witty enough.

There is nothing else too crazy that is happening at the moment- we are just going hard all day every day, with the knowledge that the Lord will fill in the blanks. The work here is certainly difficult, but it is most definitely possible. Our God is a God of miracles and I know that as we diligently excercise our authority and live worth of the mantle which we have, we can call down angels to aid us.

I love you all, have an exceptional week!

-Elder Frederickson