I've been super excited to email you just because I cannot believe how many miracles I have seen the last few weeks. I love serving in this area so much! I have an amazing companion (and my title of this email pretty much sums up our entire relationship) and the people here are wonderful. Transfer calls are coming this Sunday, so if you want to pray for something, let's go for #keepSisterSabeyinHighland2017. I think Heavenly Father might accept hashtags in prayers. . .
Nicole has still been adding to her ever growing list of questions, but I think it is good that she asks because once she has a testimony of something, it is there forever. We've been talking a lot about the commandments with her, and this last week, we were trying to figure out who would be good to bring with us. She has a really good friend named Sister Bailey that lives in her ward. Sister Bailey has come to a lot of lessons, and we were debating on whether or not to ask her to come to this one. I kept feeling like we needed to invite her, and just based on what we were talking about, it didn't make much sense why we needed to specifically invite Sister Bailey, but we went with it. Once again, I got a very clear reminder that God knows a heck of a lot more than I do because Sister Bailey was exactly who we needed. Experiences she has had made her the perfect person to have share her testimony with Nicole. Nicole also came to a baptismal service for someone the Elders had been teaching, so that was absolutely incredible.
We also got to go to the temple this week because Alex and Rachel got to go do baptisms for the dead. I was sitting there the entire time just so happy because I was in the temple and Alex and Rachel were there with me. That is a wonderful feeling.
Sometimes when Sister Johnson and I go from our house to our area we see a girl named Ruby. She works near where we live and she always goes on a walk during her break. We stop and talk to her when we see her, so we have a pretty good friendship going on. I didn't think much of it, but earlier this week we got a text from Elders serving in Queen Creek. They had knocked on Ruby's door, Ruby told them about how much she loves talking to Sister Johnson and I, and she said the Elders are welcome back whenever they'd like! I think things like that happen all the time, but it was so cool to actually get to find out and know that Sister Johnson and I were able to help in that. That was definitely a miracle.
Sister Johnson and I made a new friend this week! We had stopped by a family that is friends with a lot of Mormons in the area. Their name is the Alverez Family. Sister Miller had made a comment when she was here that the family was NOT interested in learning more, but the Alverez family said we could come back and share a message. So when we went for the appointment, I was terrified because all I could hear was Sister Miller saying, "They are NOT interested!" I convinced myself that there was no way I could bring up the gospel, and as much as I sat on their couch and thought about it, I was too scared. So we continued chatting and I just prayed that Sister Johnson would be braver than I. She was, and guess what happened? Miracles. We taught Mrs. Alverez about the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and she said she would be interested in learning more and agreed to read and pray about the Book of Mormon. I had built up my courage by that point, so I extended a baptismal invitation and she is open to it. It was another one of those "Sister Sabey, you don't need to be scared" moments that I want to remember forever.
And, Family, I am at the point in my email where I would think, "Okay, that's a lot of miracles, that's probably it, right?" BUT NO! Heavenly Father is just really really good. Sister Johnson and I were in the apartment complex that we cover this week, and it was at the very end of the day when we were unlocking our bikes to go home. We saw a girl walking her dog, so we said hi to her. Usually people say hi and keep walking, but she didn't. We found out that her name is Alicia. She was very nice and seemed fairly familiar with missionaries, so I was sitting there in my head thinking, "Member? Not member. No, member. No, wait, not member. Member?" and I couldn't decide! Then, almost in passing she says, "Oh, I'm not baptized yet." She had been taking the lessons and was just about ready to get baptized in a different part of Gilbert, but she had been working through a few things before she was ready. So now we were able to talk to her and she's still working on one or two things but she said that we are welcome by and that she is working on being ready to be baptized. Wow. Miracles. That night on district call (our district leader is supposed to call every companionship in his district each night to ask how their day was and make sure we are doing good), I was telling Elder Hurst that story, and one of the sisters I live with came in and went, "Wait, is this a real story??" I didn't think it was possible to see so many miracles, but I am just really glad I have been so blessed to be a part of them.
I just want to finish up with a story that Bishop Nabrotsky told Sister Johnson and I this week. Someone told us to ask him what calling he had before he was called to be the bishop. He was the Primary Chorister. <insert giggles from the peanut gallery> I figured he was just going to tell us and then try to brush it off and change the subject, but no, it turned into a really cool story that taught me a HUGE lesson. Bishop started talking about how when he was called as Primary Chorister, it was super overwhelming for him. He had no idea how he was supposed to be a primary chorister. And as he was telling us this, I was sitting there like, "He's a bishop and he was freaking out over being a primary chorister? Seriously?" But then he started talking about how that calling taught him to truly rely on the Lord and reiterated that the Lord doesn't call the qualified, he qualifies the called. He concluded saying how grateful he was for the experience of being a primary chorister and how it helped prepare him for his call as a bishop. I learned two really important things from this. First, every calling in the church is important and serves a purpose--there are no "unimportant" callings. Second, The Lord really is in the details and will prepare us if we are willing to follow where He leads. I love the Gospel of Jesus Christ because I know that He is actively aware of us and loves us. He is helping us, and I can't wait to see what else I get to learn from Him. I love you!
Sister Emily
1001 N Burk Street
Gilbert, AZ
85234
Try the gray stuff, it's delicious! (I have an obsession with gray frosting now)
At the Temple with Alex, Rachel, and Brother Ethridge
Sister Johnson's sister's interpretation of how I catch scorpions
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