New Companion

Dear family and friends,

I apologize for delays in posting to Emily's blog. We had computer problems and life has been busy. Here is the news for the last two weeks. Apparently, Emily ate dinner with one of my first grade students from many years ago this past week! It really is a small world. We are really looking forward to skyping with her next week!

Lori

Dec. 9,

 This week I got my new companion, Sister West, she is Mexican! She speaks Spanish! I'M SO HAPPY!!!! haha. She's great, I think this transfer is going to be awesome. We are working with a less active named Dan, he hasn't gone to church for about 5 years, and he might not believe in God anymore, but he's warming up to talking about the gospel and I'm really excited. I have a feeling that he is one of the people I came to Bountiful to help. Erick Lopez received the priesthood yesterday, I'm so happy! He and his sister are doing great in the gospel. They have a lot to learn, but they Love it. And their parents have been participating more, I really hope that they will get married soon so that they can join their children and become an eternal family.

Dec. 16,

I bore my testimony in the adult session on stake conference, my mission president called me out and asked me to... It was scary, but a lot of people started crying, and I could feel the spirit at least. So that was good. We brought a less active with us,  and I looked him right in the eye when I was talking, he got a little teary eyed too. His name is Dan, and Hermana West and I both received personal and then companionship revelation that he is one of the reasons that we are here in Bountiful. We have seen so much progress in him just in the last two weeks, we are so excited! I love being a missionary!!! I wouldn't trade this for anything in the world.

Oh, we had a miracle this week! SO during weekly planning we decided we want to eat healthier, and we decided to buy apples and pb for snacks this Monday. But we didn't have to because that night, when we got home, there was a box  of goodies that said "for our Spanish sister missionaries" and guess what there was inside? Apples and peanut butter! and toilet paper, and bread, and soup and candy. It was our little Christmas miracle :).

Dec. 2, 2013

It’s been a good week, a little crazy because Sister Roades is getting ready to go home and she's been packing in spare time. It's good though. I'm nervous about transfers as always, but I know that this next one is going to be amazing. Did I tell you guys about the lady who called and said she wanted to be baptized? We've been teaching her for a while, and she loves it all. We just have to help her keep the Sabbath day so she can come to church. This transfer hasn't been easy, but it's gone by fast, and I've learned so much! I can really feel God's hand in my life, helping through everything, and allowing me to better myself. 

Baptisms

Dear blog followers,
Sorry that it has been a couple of weeks since I posted. We have had computer issues. Here is what Emily wrote this past Monday, Nov. 18 (To clarify, I asked her if she is getting meals, the three sets of sisters in our ward only get meals about twice a week.):

It snowed here for most of the day on Saturday. but it didn't stick, so that was good. I get food every single day, that's the nice part of having so many members around here.

It really is amazing how much God blesses each of us. Everyday I feel so in awe that He is letting me do this work, because He doesn't need me, but I need this mission. I have learned so many things here that have and will change my life forever. I am so grateful for this gospel, and for parents who taught me right, so that I could be worthy to do this work. 

This week was amazing. Simple as that. On Friday our mission was visited by Elder Bednar. We prepared spiritually the whole week before, and I had some very important questions answered. It was so amazing!!! And on Saturday Erick and Iliana Lopez were baptized, and they got confirmed yesterday. I am so happy. I love those two so much, and I can't wait to watch them grow in the gospel!

Bountiful Temple

I did get moved into my new place. It is in the basement of a member's home, and it's nice.

Things are going fine with the comp, she and I are very different. She is going home in a month, and is very focused on herself, but we get along. I love the area, things are picking up and we have a double baptism in a week :D. I'm excited. 

This week was good. I did exchanges on Wednesday with a sister who was struggling with her trainee. I think I helped her, I hope so. Thursday was AMAZING. I got to go to the Bountiful Temple!!! That's where I'm getting married fyi :p. I received some life changing revelation, and it was the most peaceful I've ever felt. We moved into our new place on Saturday, an hour after we found out we were moving. That was kind of stressful, but it worked out. Our ZLs (zone leaders) helped us rearrange the furniture so that we actually had room for the beds, they're great. Things are starting to pick up, my comp is sick, but she slept a lot yesterday, and feels quite a bit better today. I think things will be better soon. 

The picture is of the Lopez kids and our friend Connie.

Bountiful

My new area is great! I mean, I miss Layton, but I already love it here. There are so many members who want to do missionary work, we just have to teach them how! We are living in a temporary place, it's kinda really ghetto. But we're moving again on Friday to a members house, so that will be nice haha.

My companion and I are getting along great, we haven't had any problems, and I'm going to do all I can to keep it that way. We aren't teaching a ton of people right now, but we are teaching the Lopez family from El Salvador. They are AMAZING! The two children, Iliana (18), and Erick (16) are going to seminary in school, and love the gospel. They want to be baptized ASAP, which is hopefully the 16th. The Parents are a little more behind, they have to get married first, but they both want to be baptized. I love this family so much! Erick is a lot like Brandon, I love messing around with him, it reminds me of home. And Iliana is the sweetest girl ever. They are pretty much already living the gospel, I don't know how we were so blessed to find them! 

So yeah, everything is great here, I love being a missionary. There is nothing that makes me happier than testifying of what I know to be true to these people. I love the Lord with all my heart. He did everything for me, and I want my brothers and sisters to know that too.

I am in Bountiful, but it covers Farmington, West Bountiful, Bountiful, and Centerville. I like it.

Oh, and something cool happened this week, we ate with the bishop and his wife, and usually they're kind of cold with the missionaries, but i just tried to get to know them and they opened up and were laughing, and offering to do things for us, my companion said it was a miracle. The same thing happened with two of our investigators. For some reason, the people here connect with me really well. It makes me happy.

Also, this week i have been asked If I'm from Mexico, El Salvador, and Italy. Apparently I don't look American! haha

Transferred!

Here is the update for the past two weeks:

Oct. 14, 2013

This week was kind of hard, we had two of our progressing investigators drop us. Just like that, no explanation, no warning, just "I don't want you to come over anymore." But it's ok. I know that there are others out here who are ready to receive the gospel. In fact, I'm pretty sure we found two of them last night. We went to go visit a sister who is getting baptized in November, and her son and his friend were outside (they might have been slightly drunk but that's ok.) and we started talking to them. They both want to learn more about the gospel, one of them recently lost his mother, and he cried when we started to talk about the Plan of Salvation. I think that he will love the gospel. I'm so sad that transfers are coming, I love this companionship, we have fun, and we work hard. I got to visit Roxie last night, for the first time in about a month, and it was so cool. She loves the gospel so much! She is so much happier than when I first met her, and she really loves me, so that always makes me feel good :D. I wouldn't trade this for anything. If she is the only person I see baptized it will all be worth it. And I know that we are planting seeds with people here, even if they aren't ready to act on it yet. 

Oct. 21,2013

My week has been crazy too. We had a huge mission meeting on Wednesday, then another one for the leaders on Thursday, and weekly planning on Friday. So we didn't get to teach as many lessons as usual, but it was a very spiritual week. I'm  getting transferred to Bountiful with Hermana Roades, so that will be interesting. I'm kind of scared, but i know everything will be ok. We got to pick pumpkins on Saturday, and we're carving them with sister Smith (the member we live with) tonight. It's going to be fun. I'm going to miss her so much! ALL of the people. That's the only bad part of being a missionary, you have to leave. This week I got to hold a puppy that was one day old! It was so cute, it's little eyes weren't even open yet! In one of these pics, we are with the elders in our ward and some members, the Garcia family. They're awesome, I love them so much!

One funny thing that happened this week. Saturday we had a lesson with two guys that we met, they live in the same house and one of our investigators, and they were wasted. SO drunk, but they said they'd come to church, and they liked talking about Christ, so that was good. But around 9 that night they called and said that they'd be too hung over to come to church, so they'd try next week haha. Being a missionary is just really awesome. Sometimes we go to random houses of members, because we felt like we should, and they needed us right then and there. It's the most amazing thing to feel the spirit work through you all the time, and to see how it helps the people around you. I love it, you will too! Like this one sister, she's been a member for about 5 years, but her husband is anti, and only lets her go to sacrament meeting. She wants to go to the classes so bad, but she is so grateful to be there just for one hour, it's inspiring. The people here are so amazing. Leaving them will be the hardest thing i've ever done. 

Emily's mail should be sent through the mission office for now as she thinks housing may change. Here is the address:

1535 South Edison Street
SLC, UT 84115

General Conference

Life continues to be busy both here in Ohio and for Emily in Utah. I'm so sorry that I have been a little slow in updating the blog, I will try to do better! Here is the update for the last two weeks. The second part is mostly about Emily's General Conference experience.


Sept. 30,
Oh, there is one cool story I can share. For dinner this week, we ate with a sister who just went through a terrible divorce, and she and her kids have been having a really hard time with it. We ate with her on Tuesday and had a great time there, she is wonderful. Later, on Friday, we were in the same neighborhood where she lives, and we decided to stop by to see her. We talked for a little bit about how things were going, shared a message, then we just started talking. She told us about how one of her talents is serving people. She has been helping us with one of our investigators, helping feel loved. We thanked her, then told her how special she is. She started to cry, and said that she was so happy we came. We were there when her ex-husband came to pick up the kids, it was really hard for her. I know that God sent us there that day, in a time when she really needed us. It was a wonderful experience.

Oct. 7,
We were in downtown for the whole weekend practically, it was great. We watched the Saturday am session in the Joseph Smith Memorial building, then afternoon in the Conference Center. We got Plaza seats! It was really cool. The story behind how we got those tickets is awesome too so I'll tell you about it. We got 3 tickets for Sunday Morning from Sis. Carter's mom, so we were going to go. But one of our investigators really wanted to go, but was busy Sunday. We found another companionship with Saturday afternoon tickets and traded two of ours for six them! Then Janeth couldn't even go... So instead we invited Vani, who we figured wouldn't want to go, but she did! Her parents came with her, it was great. And then we got to go too, so yeah! Then we got more tickets for Sunday morning, so that was fun. Oh, and the whole Chavez family went to the Sunday afternoon session! We are so excited. they loved it!
What was your favorite talk? Mine were Edward Dube's about never looking back, and Elder Holland's. They were both amazing! I love Conference!

New Companionship

Our new companionship is going great, we have a lot of fun together, and we work really hard. We had to do a little cleaning up from last transfer, but things are starting to move forward again. 

Anyway, I will  get to go to one conference session for sure. We have a lot of people we are teaching who are ready to be baptized, but they are nervous. They know it's a big step and that they can't go back, so we are trying to figure out how to help them to feel confident and willing without being pushy. Because we all know that no one likes a pushy missionary. I did exchanges with an English speaking sister this week, it was really cool, she is a great missionary, and I was able to help her feel better about herself! I learned that being a missionary isn't just about helping non-members come closer to Christ, but literally doing what He would do in every situation. It was a great experience for me. 

Still in Layton

Everything is going great. I got a new companion with transfers last week, Hermana McNelly, and Hermana Carter is still here too! I got to stay in Layton, but I think this will be my last transfer here. That's ok, I know that wherever I go is where God needs me.

This week was crazy, we found out on Monday that we got new companions, so that day was all cleaning and packing for Sister Adorable. For the past 10 days I had a really bad cold/ maybe bronchitis... but I didn't want to go to a doctor, so I'm not sure. So on Tuesday it was really bad, I slept all through morning studies, then we had a lunch appointment with an investigator, and I couldn't concentrate or breathe. So my comps dropped me off at  a member's house and they worked while I slept. Wednesday was transfers, so we went to SLC and then settled sister McNelly in. She is great, I'm really excited for this transfer, there are so many prepared people, and we all want to work hard! Thursday was visiting investigators and getting to know new people. Friday, I was sick again, after planning it was back to the member's house. I had a nasty cough. But I got medicine and slept, and now I'm all better. Saturday we had a ward activity, and an investigator came! Then Sunday we went to an investigators house at 8:30 and helped her get the kids ready. We got to the chapel just in time for the sacrament, it was great! Then we went to Temple Square with another investigating family, and they loved it! They said that they want to get baptized soon! so yeah, it was an adventurous week, but a good one.

Sept. 11, 2013

For those of you who faithfully follow Emily's blog, we haven't heard a lot from her in the past two weeks.:( Here is what she wrote this week:

I'm doing great!

I just found out that I'm staying in Layton for this transfer, and I get to stay with one of my two companions, and we're getting another one. It will be great!

Nothing too exciting happened this week, we had some good lessons; we're still teaching the couple in the trailer park, hopefully they're getting baptized in two weeks. It's going to be a great transfer!!!

I'm so excited to be a missionary, I know that this is where I am supposed to be without a doubt, and that I will become a better person and daughter of God. 

Aug. 26, 2013

Let me tell you guys about my amazing week that I had!

Ok, so Tuesday we had a training meeting, and Sister Adorable and I had to give a training because we're sister training leaders. We taught 100 missionaries about how to have effective comp study, and why it is important, it was so scary! But everyone said we did a good job, so I guess it was alright. Anyway, there were several other really good trainings, so we went to lunch when it was done, and had a great companion inventory. we decided that there were a few things that we could do better, and some different things that we could try to be more effective with our time and find new people. And this week we were so blessed because of it.

Miracle one: On  Wednesday we went  to one of the trailer parks  in our area to visit all of the former investigators. No one answered, so  we decided to try Janeth. Janeth is an eterigator (we think Emily means she is an eternal investigator),  she's had all the lessons several times, but  never went to church, and eventually told the missionaries to stop coming. I'd never met her because she wouldn't answer the door. Well we knocked, not expecting anything, and she answered! Then she invited us in, and we found out that she had been praying to know what God wanted her  to do, then we came.  She's been reading the BoM for the whole time, and is in Alma. She says her prayers everyday alone and with her husband and sons. After the lesson, she told us she wants to be baptized, but she wants to wait until her husband is ready because she wants to do it together. 

Miracle Two: On Thursday we had three set lessons, but they all fell through. When we went to go visit a couple they were on their way out, so we were a little sad, but in the yard of the next trailer, there was a Hispanic man, and sister Adorable was trying to figure out how go get his attention, when the phone fell out of her hand! It fell under the car, and none of us could reach it. So this man, Guiermo, came over and helped us. We started talking to him, and he said that he used to have the missionaries over all the time, but when they went home no one came back. He has a 12 year old daughter and an 8 year old son! He said he'd love to have us come over and teach him more! So exciting.

Miracle Three: When we did weekly planning we decided to try something another sister had told us about. We chose a color, and prayed that every person wearing that color on Friday would know someone new who would come to church on Sunday. We went the whole day and no one was wearing orange. Then we picked up a member to go meet her friend that we've been trying to get a hold of for a while, and she and her son were both wearing orange, but we didn't think anything of it. We went and visited Karen, and she was super nice and said she wants to learn more. We invited her to come to church on Sunday and she said yes! Then I leaned over to my companions and said "do you see what color they're wearing?" they hadn't even noticed haha.

Miracle Four: We are teaching the daughter of a recent convert, and she is super nice. We taught her the plan of Salvation, and she loved it. The spirit was really strong, and we invited her to be baptized on the 14th of September and she said yes!

Miracle Five: We had another lesson with Janeth on Saturday, and her husband was there, we taught Plan of Salvation, and they were so excited about it. He is nervous because he knows that there is a lot to change in his life, but they both committed to being baptized on the 21st, and they came to church on Sunday and loved it! This was their first time, they were so nervous, but they came!

So... that was my amazing week. 

Emily's Week, Aug. 12, 2013

Here is my week: on thursday we had dinner planning on teaching a 21 yr old man who is living with him member father and step mom. He wasn't there, but we were talking to her about a sister in the ward who she is good friends with who is having a hard time. This sister's 18 yr old daughter died in a horrible car crash in February the day after she got engaged to a wonderful young man in our ward. They were supposed to get married this last Saturday. The mom has been having such a hard time with it, but she still comes to church for her kids. After dinner I asked if we could go visit her, and so we did. When we got there she was so happy to see us, and we talked for a while. It turns out that the night before she had been talking to her husband who is in the bishopbric, and he told her to just have faith, and she said it was too hard. Then, the day we came over, he and the boys were out working, her daughters left to play with friends, and she was praying so hard because she didn't want to be alone, she didn't think she could handle it. Less than 5 minutes after she finished the prayer, we knocked on her door. She started to cry and said we were her angels that God sent to help her. I felt so humbled and thankful that we were able to listen to the spirit and help her when she was at her worst moment.

Next, on Friday we were teaching a family, and a young man named Manuel lives with them, so he joined us. The mom shut down as soon as we brought out the BoM, and wouldn't listen anymore. But Manuel loved what we talked about, he committed to be baptized! but he's not on date yet. He came to church on Sunday and really liked it! We're going to go see him again on Wednesday, so that will be great!

Sunday night we had a lesson with Rudolfo (the 21 yr old who didn't show for dinner) finally. We've been waiting on that one for a month. We did a small FHE with the whole family, and we taught the restoration. The spirit was so strong! He was interested in hearing more, so we're going back there this week too. Right before we left, his step-mom came and thanked us, she said it was good for Rudolfo, and for her husband, who is less-active. She almost cried. It was such a great week!

Transfers!

Here is Emily's news for this week.

The work is great, there is a family of 5 we are teaching, and we're going to commit them to be baptized this weekend, I know that they will say yes, and I'm so excited! We have dinner every single night, and it's great authentic Hispanic food (aka rice, beans, avocado, tomatoes etc with every meal) But it really is good. I quickly learned to eat everything put in front of me, but slowly so I don't have to eat thirds (because you always have to eat seconds). I'm not actually driving, so it's not bad at all ha ha. But I appreciate having a car for sure.

So, transfers were last week, and my trainer and I were both really nervous because the MP(Mission President) sent everyone an email saying things were going to be different, and we wouldn't be able to predict it. So on Monday we got a call, and we both thought we were getting transferred. But it turns out that we were called to be Sister Training Leaders instead! I don't understand, I'm only on my second transfer, and now it's my job to help sisters learn more about being a missionary! Why would they listen to little old me?

Then Tuesday night we got another call, saying that we [were] to co-train a sister who was coming to wait for her visa. I'M NOT DONE BEING TRAINED YET!!! How can I train someone else? But at the same time, I know that President Hansen prayed long and hard about all of these things, plus 1 Nephi 3:7 and all that, so I've been super humbled, and I hope that I can be a good example to this new sister while I continue to learn.

Speaking of new sister, she's Hermana Carter, just got here on Wednesday, she's waiting to go to Argentina, but she's happy to be here, which is so nice. Some times "visa waiters" are angry to be in the states, but she is such a good sport, and so nice, I love her already. So that was my crazy transfer week, crazy, humbling, scary... you name it. But I love it, and I'm just really happy to be here, and to still have Hermana Adorable here to help me out.

July 29, 2013

Guess what happened this week! The bishop over the Spanish ward invited us to ward council, and he dedicated the whole meeting to missionary work! It was an answer to prayers. I know that we're about to see a HUGE increase in the number of people we are teaching. My plan to become the Bishop's friends worked, he loves us now! I think in the recent past he had a bad experience with missionaries who didn't do their work, so he just needed to see that he can trust us. Things are looking up :). 

We're teaching this family of 5, the Chavezes, I love them! They all know that the Book of Mormon is true, and they want to be baptized after they learn more! I'm so excited, they are an amazing family. They're dry Mormons other than coffee too, so I know that they have been well prepared to learn the Gospel.  Mission life is great, I love it out here, and my companion is awesome. I couldn't ask for anything more.

July 22, 2013

Here is what Emily wrote last week (July 22):

There are bad days and good ones on the mission just like in life. I had a harder day earlier this week, one of our investigators dropped us, but then we had a baptism yesterday. Roxie has been such a trooper, it took us about a week to figure out which ward was really hers, and there was some mix up about the time and everything, but it all worked out. Her 12 year old son gave the talk on baptism, and when he bore his testimony at the end she started crying and said he's so glad that his mom is getting baptized. It made all of us cry. She was so excited the whole time, she couldn't stop smiling! And right before we left, her 13 year old son came up to us and said "you did a good job" but I told him we didn't do anything. His mom is the one who was willing to listen, and it sure wasn't us teaching her. Heavenly Father had His hands in those lessons. Then we gave her one more hug before we had to head out, and she held on really tight and whispered thank you. She loves the gospel so much, I feel so honored to have been able to get to know her and help her come closer to God.

 

July 19, 2013

Sorry that the blog hasn't been updated for a while, I was out of town. Here is what Emily had to say last week. She and her companion have been teaching a lady named Roxie whose 12 and 13 year old kids were baptized a year ago and so she decided to see what the church was about. A friend took her to church and she loved it. Here is what Emily wrote:

"Last week was a slower week, so there wasn't much to tell. This week we had zone conference and I got a lot of new ideas about how to teach and plan. It was really good. Our new mission President is different than the old one, but he is a spiritual giant and I'm excited to work with him. I have a baptism this Sunday, I'm so excited, and we have more coming up, and lots of new people to teach. I love being a missionary, I never want to stop! 

"So here is how my week went. I have been teaching Roxie, and she is getting baptized on Sunday!!! I'm so excited! She is the best, I love her so much. Also, a Spanish sister has been waiting for a divorce for 15 months so that she can marry the father of her kids and get baptized. Her divorce is supposed to go through today (July 15), so I should get to plan a wedding and a baptism for her! We found 6 new people to teach this week, and I have the best companion ever. I love being a missionary, it's the best thing ever. I can't be sad or depressed, this is way too much fun!"

July 3,2013

We don't have much to report on Emily this week. She is still doing very well and loving her mission. She ran into a member of our old ward in Clinton,UT this past week. Sister Mealy and her husband were eating lunch at Cafe Rio when several sets of missionaries came in for lunch. She told her husband she wanted to pay for the sisters lunch. When she went over to tell them she wanted to pay for their lunch, Emily recognized her and asked her name. Then Sister Mealy saw Emily's name tag and realized who she was. It really is a small world. Here is a picture of Emily and her companion.

Serving in Layton, UT

After a long wait, we finally heard from Emily. She didn't have a preparation day last week due to leaving the MTC. She sounds great! Ironically, she is serving in a city about 10 miles from where we lived in Utah! Here is what she had to say:

"I love it here, so much already! The people are amazing, the ward is great, but the Bishop doesn't really like sister missionaries, so I'm going to become his best friend and his opinion is going to change :D. We are steadily teaching 2 families, and last week we found 3 new families and 2 new individuals. One of them is Guadalupe. She committed to be baptized on the 13th of July, and really wants to learn more about the church. We've only taught her one lesson so far, but we're going back tonight and at least one more time this week. She has two daughters who are adorable! They're so sweet, so is she. I thought I would be in shock the first day, but it still hasn't hit me, so I guess I just don't have to go through that. Thank goodness! I just love being here. We have a car, so that's nice, we're also going running every other morning so we don't get fat. Oh, the food here is sooo good. It's usually authentic Mexican, but we've also had Argentinian and plain old American food. We get dinner every night, and sometimes we go out for lunch, or just eat at our mansion (that's what we call our house, we live in a widowed stake young women's president's home, in the basement, and it's huge!). Two times we've had people come up and pay for our meals. I can't believe how generous people are! I'm so grateful for the tender mercies that I see every day. Like when one investigator wasn't home, but we decided to wait for ten  minutes. When we were about to leave, we saw her walking home, and ended up having a great lesson! God really does watch after His missionaries. I'm so happy all the time! My trainer, Hermana Adorable (yes that's her name) is wonderful, we are going to accomplish miracles together, I just know it."

6 more days in the MTC

 I love being a missionary so much! It's the best feeling ever, having the spirit use you as a tool to touch the hearts of the people around you. I was able to teach my district on Sunday, and it wasn't me teaching. They all were touched, and felt that something I said was just for them. I can't believe I'll be in SLC in 6 days! It's so amazing, I can't wait to go teach!

Everyone in the district is always telling me how I am so full of love, and the spirit. I hope that is true, and that I can always help the people around me feel the love I know that God has for them.

 We (her district) have class and study time together about 12 hours a day, and then we eat together, and usually do gym time together, because we want to. Our district is really close. We're like a family. Half of us go to BYU, so we're planning on meeting up when we get back, and we're all going to stay in touch on our missions. It's going to be amazing.

June 6, 2013

Another great morning e-mailing back and forth with Emily. We are so grateful to be sharing her missionary experiences through her letters and e-mails.
Lori

"So yesterday I got to host new missionaries, which means taking them away from their families, and showing them where they live, and where they have class. It was a really cool experience. I tried to express how amazing the MTC can be if you let it. The spirit is so strong here! Some people are getting restless, and say they hate it here. I want nothing more than to go out to the field and start teaching, but I am comfortable here. I know that I am here for 6 weeks for a reason, so I'm going to learn and practice as much as I can while I'm here. Yesterday we practiced asking inspired questions with our companions. It was amazing, how I was able to ask her exactly the right thing, and teach her what she needed to hear right then. She is 21, and a little insecure about being a missionary. I just want her to realize that God knows that she is ready to be here, or else she wouldn't be!

On Sunday I watched a talk by Elder Holland, from this last November at the MTC, and it was AMAZING! He talked about how your mission can not be the spiritual highlight of your life. It can start your focus on a spiritual life, but if it is the highlight, you haven't got it. So I am determined to continue to progress and improve every day, especially when I come home, so that I can really be the best I can be."

May 30, 2013

We had a fun experience today.  We tried to make sure we were on our e-mail when Emily got on. This allowed us to e-mail back and forth with her for about half an hour. It wasn’t Skype but as close as we could get. Emily has been in the MTC for three weeks now—halfway through her MTC experience. She obviously loves the experiences she is having. Here is a snippet from her e-mail this week.

Lori

“MTC life is so good,  I can't wait to see what the field is like! I feel my Savior's love everywhere I go (which is not much of anywhere right now, but that's ok ha ha). He has done so much for me! On Tuesday we read 3 Nephi 11 as a district, and stopped to discuss it every few verses. It was so cool to hear the insights from all of the other missionaries, and to feel the spirit so strongly. My teacher, who is only 22 but has been working here since he got back from his mission (about 10 months) said that he has never seen a district with so much desire, and energy, and focus for and on the work. I am so blessed to be in this District. It's crazy, because on the first day here, I recognized everyone in my district, even though I've never seen any of them before. I honestly think we might have been friends before. It is amazing how the gospel can bring so many different people together and unite them. But that's what it's all about isn't it. Bringing all of God's children together, and uniting them in one cause: getting back to Him.”

Update for Emily

Emily is still doing great. She loves the MTC and the spirit she feels there. She is looking forward to going out into the mission field. Here are a few comments from her letter/e-mail this week.

"Well it's been another eventful week at the MTC. Yesterday about 15 people from my BYU ward arrived, including my roommate Steph or as I now call her, Sister Jones. It's been really nice getting to see so many familiar faces. My companion left yesterday, which was sad, but my new companion, Sister Aurich is pretty great. We are going to learn a lot from each other I think. Now we're teaching two "progressing investigators" (who are really our teachers acting as investigators they had in the field).
I'm still singing in the choir, which is awesome. 
 I know these last two weeks have been the best of my short life, and that as I work to be exactly obedient and 100% dedicated to this work things will only get better. I love this so much, and am so grateful for this chance I have help my brothers and sisters!"

First E-Mail

After what seemed like forever, we heard from Emily today!  She sounds like she is doing great and we are very excited for her! Having a missionary out is kind of bitter-sweet. We know she is going to do good things but we miss her. Here is how she is doing in her own words:

This last Sunday I had the privilege of singing in the MTC choir, and Elder Nelson came and talked to us! It was such a spiritual experience, I can't believe how blessed I am to be here. I have been so happy here, and although I miss being with you, I'm not sad at all. Actually I couldn't be more excited! We have been practicing teaching in Spanish, and we had a baptism commitment from our first investigator! Well he was one of our teachers, but he acted like one of the investigators he had on his mission, and only two of the 5 groups were able to figure out his needs so that we could help him accept the gospel. I know that I could not have helped him without the spirit. It has been such a humbling experience, but now I know that I can do this. I can speak the language, I can teach others about the gospel. There is nothing to be afraid of, because I am on the Lord's errand. Yesterday my new companion, Hermana Taputuarai  found out that she is leaving for the field next Wednesday! She wasn't supposed to be going until the 19th of June, like me, but I know that she is ready. She is so amazing I'm going to miss her :'(. I will have had 4 companions in 2 weeks when I get a new one. I think that this is a blessing though, because I have a bad habit of letting people take charge, but now, with my experiences already, I know how to do my part during teaching. I need to depend on my knowledge and the spirit as well as my companion. I can't wait to go the SLC!!  I just want to be the best missionary I can be, and I know that that means forgetting Emily Lisonbee, and focusing on how I can help others see Christ through me. I just want to help bring others to the joy I feel from the gospel, and the knowledge that I have. That I have a Heavenly Father who loves me. That my savior did everything for me. I'm so blessed.

Emily entered the Mission Training Center (MTC) on May 8th about 1:00 pm.  Her aunt Barbara and Uncle John were gracious enough to take her.  She called home just before she entered the MTC. She sounded ready to go. She is so excited to serve the Lord and the people of Salt Lake City (SLC).  We are not sure when her P-Day is but we will update you on a regular basis.  We have not heard from  her since the 8th.

It's not good bye, it's see you later...

I have three more days. After that, it's off to the MTC to start my next big adventure. I could not be more excited!!! I hope I get lots of letters (because getting mail is like Christmas you know), and I promise I will respond to all of them... eventually haha. This blog will be updated by my lovely mother, who will keep you posted on all of the awesome experiences that I'll be having for the next 18 months. I can't wait to go help bring a little more light into the lives of those living in SLC!