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.