Sister Emily Sabey: I LOVE MY MISSION!!!!!!!

Hi Family!

People keep telling me, "Oh! So you're about ready to go home!" to which I tell them, "No, I'm not ready. They are sending me against my will!" Because of that, I've made an executive decision. All offense intended I'm just going to stay in Gilbert and be a missionary forever. I hope y'all are alright with that. :)

This week has been so good! Between Thanksgiving and everything else, I've been able to spend a lot of time with so many wonderful members. We had two Thanksgiving dinners on Thursday: one with the Ellsworths and one with the Schows. They were both so fun. It was spread out throughout the day, so that was nice. I was able to enjoy them with two super wonderful families. We also had a Thanksgiving dinner the next day with the Deans. Bishop and Sister Flake also took Sister King and me out for frozen yogurt on Saturday. I just love this area.

Side story before I continue to tell y'all how amazing my mission is. This week a thing happened that caught me off guard. I woke up one morning this week and was going about doing my normal thing when Sister Ogawa comes and tells me, "Sister Sabey, you were sleep talking in Spanish last night." Family, I don't speak Spanish all that well! But Sister King also told me that I'd been sleep talking in Spanish. And now I'm bummed that no one could tell me what I said. When did this happen?

Back to my amazing, wonderful mission that I love. Thank you so much for the prayers on behalf of our friends. Charles hasn't been able to meet in a while, but he said that his brother also wants to be baptized. Laura was out of town this week, but she said they'd try to come to church this upcoming Sunday! We stopped by Felicia earlier this week so I could get a picture with her, and she just made me feel like a million dollars. She was so sweet and grateful for teaching and helping her. I felt like I had made a difference in her life. Linda is still doing great! She loves her calling. She's working with the scouts program. We had dinner with her this week and she is so sweet. Sister King and I agreed that if anyone learning about the Church needed someone to look up to, it should be Linda. She loves the Gospel and her conviction is contagious.

Even with all the miracles we've already seen, we are still finding even more people to teach and I am in utter disbelief. We got a call from some Elders in Queen Creek this week because a family that might be interested moved into our area. We hurried over and met them, and they are just the cutest family of three. Nolan, Daysia, and their daughter Cienna are such wonderful people and they also said they want to come to church on Sunday.

We also started teaching a man named Ray. He is the caretaker of an older member in our area, and she had asked us to invite him to take the lessons. She's already been telling him about the Church and the message we share. He agreed to listen, but trying to find someone to bring to the lesson was an absolute MESS! EVERYONE was out of town or busy. We asked our ward mission leader, Brother Schow, but he wasn't sure if he could make it. Eventually, we asked Sister Ogawa and Sattler if we could borrow a member from their young single adult ward to come with us (thankfully, they said yes), and asked our Bishop's son, Chip. He just got back from a mission in Chile. He was able to, so we were able to have the lesson. It was still a mess. I don't know what was up--maybe Sister King and I carried some stress into the lesson--but we were having the hardest time teaching Ray. I just felt like I was stumbling over my words and it was hard to hear him and we had no idea what to do. I am so thankful that we brought Chip with us because he was able to jump right in and shared an awesome testimony. Then, Brother Schow came! Miracles!! And he added his testimony of the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It was so good. Lesson: members are SO important. We invited Ray to be baptized, but he said he wanted to learn more first. He said he would keep reading the Book of Mormon. :D

Also, if I haven't told you enough times that I love my area and that it is amazing, I LOVE MY AREA AND IT IS AMAZING! Sunday was so much fun! We got invited to help teach at church and I loved it. We got to go to mission prep and answer questions that some of the youth had. It was so much fun. I remember being in Young Women's and people would say, "You are the chosen generation," and I had no idea what they were talking about. Well, I think I understand now because these youth that are now preparing to go on missions are AMAZING! I've totally been kicked off the "chosen generation" bandwagon, I'm pretty sure because these kids are stellar. I am so excited to see the missionaries they become. We also got to teach about member missionary work in Gospel Doctrine with the adults and I just had a blast. I love this and I never want to lose this missionary fire.

I love my mission so much! I have so much fun every day! Between amazing members, messes that turn into miracles, miracles that just stay miracles, funny moments, coming up with entertaining things to do when no one answers, district meetings, studies, and everything else in between, it is the best because I get to teach about the Gospel of Jesus Christ to people that I just love! And I get to pop over to all my friends' houses anytime I feel like it! This is the best and I LOVE Gilbert, Arizona. I love you, Family!

Sister Emily

1001 N Burk Street
Gilbert, AZ
85234

When you're supposed to expire the same day as your milk . . .

good thing I'm staying on my mission forever. :)