Sister Emily Sabey: Good News: I'm Not the Grinch!

Hey there family!

I feel like I don't have much to report on this week, so I want to tell you about the Sister Missionaries that I live with. I already told y'all about my companion, Sister Miller. She's a lot of fun. She has a fascination with fire, so she almost always has a candle lit during studies. She also likes a lot of similar things as me.

The other two sisters in my district are Sisters Burden and Wells. Sister Burden is like the mom. She wants to make sure everyone is okay and makes sure everyone is included in the house. She's usually the one I talk to when I have questions about how to missionary. She's also an incredible singer. Sister Wells is a lot of fun. She makes me laugh and she loves to quote the movie Ephraim's Rescue. She's a little nuts and it makes me happy.

We also live with two other sisters in the Higley Zone. Their names are Sisters Irvin and Angeloudis. They are both Sister Training Leaders. Sister Irvin reminds me of my little sister Sarah to a "T". She's focus on the work and quirky in the same ways as Sarah. Sister Angeloudis is from Australia and she does a scary good American accent. She is absolutely hilarious and I love her a lot.

Anyways, I suppose I should tell you what I did in the work this week. This week was hard, but I totally learned (once again) that God is so ready to bless us. For a few days this week I felt like I had no motivation and all I wanted to do was stare at a wall and not talk to anyone ever again, which was especially stressful to me since I felt that I should be the good example as the senior companion, especially where Sister Miller just finished training (eek, responsibility). But even though I didn't want to, we kept going out and working, and I did what I could even if it wasn't much some days. But the week ended off completely amazing, and I know that is wouldn't have happened if I had just quit and gone back to bed like I wanted to.

We had a lesson with a recent convert named Leslie who is struggling with her testimony. I also learned a lesson in humility at her lesson. We taught her the Plan of Salvation again, and it was going pretty well . . . and then Sister Miller would go off on a tangent. I would sit there like, "where is she going with this?" and wait until I, the "experienced" missionary, could reel things back in (please note the immense amount of sarcasm in that statement). But every time she would go off in a direction that I didn't understand, it always seemed to end with the exact words that Leslie needed to hear. Boy, did I rethink my life when I realized that. It helped me remember not to be prideful and that the Spirit speaks to different people in different ways. By the end of the lesson, Leslie put together that the reason she has been struggling is because she lost sight of the bigger picture. That was really awesome to see.

Sister Miller and I had another shift at the Mesa Temple Lights. One lady asked me how long I had been out, and I told her almost seven months. Her response was "Oh! Almost half way!" NOOOOOOOOOOO! Other than that, our shift was wonderful. I love the Spirit that is ALWAYS at the Temple. It's awesome. As part of our job at the Mesa Temple Lights, we are given referral cards to give to people who want missionaries to come teach them. Even though it happened last week, usually people don't magically come and straight up ask. That's where the missionaries come in. We were talking to one guy who was there. I asked if it was his first time visiting, and he said it was. Long story short, I asked if he would like representatives from our church to come teach him more and he said YES! I don't know what happen from that, but it was cool to see how differently the conversation went because I listened to the promptings of the spirit and opened my mouth.

The missionaries in the Highland Zone get to volunteer and help out at a memory care center each week. I think that is going to be one of my favorite parts of being in this area. We went and I got to talk to so many wonderful people, and I could see how it just made them happy. One lady started crying and kissing my hand because of how happy it made her. I'm excited to go back. I hear it's a different adventure every time, so I'm sure there are stories to come.

Last story of today, we had a lesson with Rachel. We went through all the commandments so we can make sure we have taught her everything in time for December 17, when she will be baptized. Her testimony is so solid that is amazes me every time we teach her. She is so dedicated to following the Lord. We also went over to her house yesterday to watch the Christmas Devotional with her and Alex. Their little son, Devin, informed me while we were there that I am "not the Grinch". Apparently Sister Miller is also not actually called "Sister Miller". We are "Sisters". I don't think Devin has figured out that we aren't actually his older sisters. It's too cute. Anyway, Rachel loved the Devotional and we went over a few things to get ready for her baptism, and she is so ready. I love teaching Rachel and being a missionary.

I hope everything is going well at home and that everyone is getting excited for Christmas! I can't wait to talk to you! Twenty days and counting! I love you and I am excited to hear from you soon!

Sister Emily

1001 N Burk Street

Gilbert, AZ

85234

December 1st of #LightTheWorld: Jesus Lifted Others' Burdens and So Can We

Here's Sister Wells and Sister Miller lifting Sister Burden