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."