Revelation Carefully Recorded is Revelation in a Time of Need

Hi Family!!

Y'all, I have been so multicultural this week.  I was not expecting to get to try crazy foreign foods when I came to Arizona (except maybe a little Mexican food, which has been very good), but in the last three or so weeks, I've gotten to try authentic Russian, Mongolian, Japanese, Colombian, and Macedonian/Albanian food.

It's been another incredible week here in the Arizona Gilbert Mission.  I got the email for MyPlan this week, a six week course that missionaries complete prior to returning home.   I don't have to start it for . . . a long, long time still, but it was still weird to get the email.  One thing that has been cool about my mission is that it has changed the way I deal with stress (and let's be real, getting that email was a wee bit stressful, among other things).  Before my mission, I probably would have been hiding myself behind a screen, watching TV or mindlessly scrolling down a social media site.  Well, that's not really an option for me, so I've learned to rely more on prayer and reading the scriptures or asking for a priesthood blessing.  I think I knew that I'd learned to rely on that somewhere in the back of my head, but it really clicked when I was listening to a song the other day.  It was a song I've listened to a lot on my mission, and one of the lines says, "I will feel no fear.  I know that You are here."  I realized then just how amazing it is that any time I am having a hard day or need some help, I always know a sure place to turn 1000% of the time.  I can always turn to Jesus Christ--and as I've been serving, it's something that has become a lot more instinctive for me.

My funny moment for this week also relates to that.  Well, more with the MyPlan email.  Elder Matua, who I served with in Highland Zone, is in Temple View Zone now.  Back in Highland, everyone always said we acted just like siblings.  Well, the sibling rivalry is still going strong.  It is quite a joy.  When I was at District Meeting, I overheard some of the Elders talking about MyPlan.  I made a comment like, "Too soon! I just got that email!"  And family, I kid you not, there was sheer panic in Elder Matua's eyes as he yelled, "You're going home??"  It was fabulous.

This week was a week full of miracles, too.  On Friday, the Zone decided to go to In 'n Out before heading to a service project.  We were absolutely brilliant and went right in the thick of the lunch rush.  So I sat and waited a long time for my food.  There was a lady standing by me, and so I decided to start talking to her.  Her name is Jo.  We started talking, and when we all got our food, the other sisters and I got to sit and talk to Jo.  I think what made it special is that Jo is not LDS, but she was perfectly happy sitting and talking with missionaries.  It's nice to not have people run away from you.  She said she would keep the missionaries in her prayers.

We met with Charles again this week.  He is awesome.  He loves the Book of Mormon and hearing about Christ's ministry, and he is so excited to learn.  This week, we were able to invite him to be baptized, and he said yes for October 21!

Laura and her kids also met with us, and that was another amazing lesson.  Sister Schultz, the Primary President, came with us to tell Anthonee and Alyra about primary.  We taught them about the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and it was so fun to see the kids teaching each other when they had questions.  Anthonee and Alyra are so smart.  Sister Schultz also bore an amazing testimony while we were there, and we were able to invite Laura and her kids to be baptized too!  They set a baptismal date for November 8.

There is also this lady in our stake named Sister Worley.  She is awesome.  She called us up because she wanted to make homemade bread and take them to people in our area.  She said she's been doing this for the last 40 years and makes about 800 loaves of bread each month.  She said she's seen lots of miracles come from it, so she wants to do it with all the missionaries in the stake.  We decided to take one of our loaves to Renee.  She had been meeting with missionaries in Mesa, and Sister Ulziiduuren had been able to help them move in when they came to Gilbert.  It was just meant to be a quick stop by, but we talked to her a bit, and she is going through a bit of a rough patch.  Sister Worley was with us mentioned priesthood blessings, so we were able to offer her one.  She said yes, so on Sunday, we got to bring two men from the ward.  It was a beautiful blessing, and especially after Elder Rasband's talk, I don't think it was by chance that we went.

Speaking of Conference, (see how I casually did that?) I was so grateful to have been able to watch it this weekend.  I took questions, and it was amazing to, once again, see all of them answered.  Afterwards, I was asked which was my favorite talk, and I suddenly could not remember many specific talks for the life of me.  So I thought of what I did remember, and I remembered how happy and peaceful I felt, and I remembered the answers to my questions.  I thought it was powerful that out of all the things I could remember, the things that the Spirit needed me to know was what actually stuck.  I love that personal revelation works like that. And of course, I was able to take notes because, as I've been told over and over on the mission, "Revelation carefully recorded is revelation in a time of need".  I looked back at my notes and I realized that in addition to what I could immediately recall, I had recorded a lot of themes: serving others, putting down the smartphone, continuing to be faithful, moving forward with faith, and not being afraid.  Elder Vaupel (my district leader) pointed out that there was a lot interwoven about things pertaining to post-mission life.  It was interesting that he was the one to point that out because he will be finishing his mission six weeks after me.  I realized that it truly is revelation for what we need to know for the next six months, on a very general AND a very specific and individual basis.  I'm not excited to come home because I still have so much to do here, but I am grateful for a Heavenly Father who gives me specific direction for what I need to know in all things. But don't worry too much, Family.  I still love you!

Sister Emily

1001 N Burk Street
Gilbert, AZ
85234

I'm still adding to my collection of how many languages I can say "I am an apple" in.  Featuring: Mongolian, Arabian, and Japanese.

Sitting in a couch in the back of a truck

Smart Phone + Temple View Zone = lots of selfies with the temple

Praying for a Birthday Baptism

Hi Everybody!

I have absolutely fallen in love with this area.  The wards are amazing and missionary minded, my zone is phenomenal, and there is so much work to be done.  This week I finally got to meet all the Bishops and Ward Mission Leaders (they had been out of town), and one of them went to BYU-Hawaii and asked me if I know Rob Sabey.  It was the most startling round of "Do You Know" ever.  I am serving in the ward of Bishop Flake, and he remembers my dad from the college days. Although I do have one weird thing for me to adjust to in this area. I spend half as much time in church here as I have the rest of my mission.  Instead of church going from 7 or 8 AM to 4, 5, or 6 PM, I just have meetings from 8 AM to 1 PM.

I got to go on exchanges again with Sister Sorenson, and for part of that, we took her friend Mary to a group called Classy Lassies.  It's a group of older ladies that get together once a month to share a spiritual thought, talk, and have lunch.  It was a lot of fun.  While we were there, it came up how to pronounce "Sabey", and I made a comment about how sometimes people think it's my first name.  One of the ladies asked what my first name was, and suddenly, one of the other ladies yells, "Please just tell me it isn't Emily!" Awkward.  We admitted that it was, and she started talking about how there are a lot of Emilys.  We just laughed.  What are the odds?

One goal that I've been praying about is to find someone that will be ready to be baptized on October 7th.  This was the first time I've set a goal like that, but it's been fun to keep it in mind and see the Lord as He provides opportunities for us to teach.  We have met so many people who are prepared, and I'm just hoping that one of them will have the desire to make that special promise with God on October 7th.  We have a few friends that are being taught, who are all amazing--so far I've been able to meet Alex and Linda.  And we found some new friends this week.

Sister Ulziiduuren and I decided to go tracting one night in an apartment complex, and we picked a building and went for it.  The very first door we knock on . . . was a very nice LDS couple.  We talked to them for a little bit, and then continued knocking doors.  The rest of the first floor didn't answer.  Then we went to the second floor.  A few people answered, but those who did were quick to shut us down and tell us they were not interested.  So we kept going and finally found Faith.  She is stellar.  We had an awesome conversation with her, and we asked when we could come share more (as we were all being eaten alive by mosquitoes).  She said we couldn't. . .  That was also sad, so we continued onto the next floor.  And that is where we meet someone named Frank.  We were talking to him about our message, and while we were talking, he informed us of his religious background and asked, "Does that make a difference?" We told him that we want to share our message with everyone, and he was content with that answer.  We got to give him a Book of Mormon, and he couldn't believe that we were just handing them out.  It was so exciting to see how blown away he was.  He told us that he definitely wanted to read it.  It was a straight miracle, and I think President Uchtdorf might even be okay with me titling that experience "Third Floor, Second to Last Door". I'm excited to stop by Frank again.

We also made a friend named Charles.  Missionaries had met him before, so when we stopped by, we set up a return appointment.  AND HE ACTUALLY KEPT IT!  Charles has been reading the Book of Mormon since he was in High School, and feels like he is in a place where he can learn more.  He had a lot to say and a lot of questions--so many that we couldn't keep up on answering them.  But we tried to follow the Spirit, and near the end, he commented that we had answered so many of the questions he had had.  We invited him to read from the Book of Mormon and invited him to be baptized.  He said yes!  We haven't set a date yet, but Charles is so excited to learn.

Zone Conference was also this week, and we have been jumping right into using technology.  It is a lot bigger of an adjustment than I thought it would be, but I can also see what a powerful tool this will be.  It's helped a lot already in keeping in contact with our friends.  And then we got to kick off Conference with the Women's Session this weekend.  If I could encourage all of you to do anything, it would be to take a question to conference with you.  As I've done that for Zone Conference and General Conference, I have always come away with an answer that I can confidently act upon.  This time, I prepared a question, and while I did receive my answer, I also received an answer to another question that I'd forgotten I had.  I have a strong testimony that revelation does come and that it comes even more abundantly when we prepare to receive it.

It's all in all been an amazing week, and I am so grateful for all the blessings I've received and the miracles I've been able to participate in.  One thing I learned this week was my role as I do missionary work.  I heard a quote from Elder Bednar that I've heard probably a thousand times before, but this time, I understood it differently.  Elder Bednar said, "We are literal witnesses of His hastening of His work".  It really put into perspective what the scripture says when God says, "I am able to do mine own work".  I realized that in the end, all that I can do is go tell everyone all the amazing things God is doing.  His work and His glory is to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.  He is hastening it, and our job is to let others know about all the blessings God has in store.  I also learned that there is power in the simple declaration that the Gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored.  It's more than exciting to get to share that testimony every day.  It makes me truly happy every time.  I love the message that I represent.  I told someone yesterday that if the Book of Mormon weren't true, I'd take off my name tag and go rethink my entire life about what God wants me to do.  But then I told him that the reason I'm here wearing His name is because I know the Book of Mormon is true, and with that comes so many blessings that we'd never know about any other way.  I know this will bless each life that partakes of the teachings of the Restored Gospel.  A wise person once asked me, "How many of His children does God intend to save?"  One thing I know is that the answer is all of them, and the Gospel of Jesus Christ is how He does that.  I love you, Family!

Sister Emily

1001 N Burk Street
Gilbert, AZ
85234

Arizona has a weird sense of humor

Wat?

Smart Phone = Smart Selfies

Probably in my Last Area D:

Hi Family!

I'm all settled into my new area, and I realized that it is probably the area I will "die" in.  It's a really weird feeling, but I'm glad I still have a lot of time left.  I'm in the Temple View Zone with Sister Ulziiduuren.  She is from Mongolia, and she is the sassiest person ever.  We have a lot of fun.  We cover two family wards, and so far I just love it.  I'm trying to hit the ground running, and I'm loving every minute of it.

I also live with Sister Ogawa and Sister Sattler.  Sister Sattler just came out to the mission field.  She's from Utah and we know a few of the same people.  Sister Ogawa is from Japan, and she actually served part of her mission there until her visa came.  I asked if she knew an Elder Thomas O'Reilly, and GUESS WHAT? He was her zone leader while she was visa-waiting.  I'm not sure if this email gets to any O'Reilly's, but if it does, Sister Ogawa said Thomas is very smart and a VERY good missionary.

Sister Patrick and I spent Monday and Tuesday running around trying to say goodbye to everyone.  It was bitter-sweet to think about how much I'd grown and how many people I'd met and came to love while serving in Cortina, but the good news is that if I want to go visit, it's 5 miles down the road.

Now that I'm in Temple View, I've been focusing on three goals that I'd set for myself back in Queen Creek.  I wanted to get to know and work with the youth, go out and work my hardest, and love the people.  With the new smartphones, we've had a lot of training, and I found a quote in one of the trainings that I've thought about a lot: "Your responsibility is to let people know of the Christlike love you feel for them and to teach the gospel clearly and powerfully by the Spirit".  I feel like I've been trying to do that, and it's put me in a place where God has allowed me to see even more miracles.  I feel like I've spent most of my mission thinking, "If I'm bold then I will be more loving", but I am learning that when we are loving, then we naturally become bold.

One miracle we had was finding an Easter Egg.  Sister Ulziiduuren and I were going to contact someone, and there was a man wearing scrubs holding a glass of water in his driveway staring at us.  The Spirit was like, "probably go talk to him", and I said, "Okay".  We talked to him and he pretty much told us he doesn't like any organized religions . . . except for the Jehovah's Witnesses.  As we continue to talk to him, we find out that he had been baptized into the Church, had received the Melchizedek Priesthood, and then gone less active.  As we talked to him, Sister Ulziiduuren bore her testimony of the Book of Mormon to him and invited him to read (which was not the direction I was going to go at all).  He told her that he did need to start reading, and when she gave him a copy, he said it reminded him of all the feelings he had when he was first learning about the church.  It was a touching moment.

We also met with Laura (mom), Alyra (11-year-old), and Anthonee (8-year-old).  Sister Ulziiduuren had set an appointment with them, but this was the first lesson.  They are so prepared.  The two kids both want to go to church, and Laura said that if the kids wanted to be baptized, that was okay!  We taught them the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and they were completely receptive.  It was such an amazing lesson.

I'm so excited to be in this area.  It's going to be so much fun.  I'm excited to take what I've learned from my mission and try my very best to apply it.  Teaching about Jesus Christ is the best thing ever.  I love you, Family!

Sister Emily

1001 N Burk Street
Gilbert, AZ
85234

The Tates :)

The goat kept licking me

This is Sister Ulziiduuren

Where do you see a baguette in America?

 Hello Family!

Last night, Sister Patrick and I were personally called by the APs (Assistants to the President)--or as I like to say, The Elder Wilcox™--because we had crazy transfer news.  We are both leaving, meaning Cortina will be getting white-washed (two new missionaries being put in). But not only that, but one of us will be white-washing an area that is being split, and the other will be opening a brand new area.  I hit sixteen months today, so I think this will be the area I "die" in.  More news to come next week!

Last Monday was a fun adventure.  We played Ultimate Frisbee with the Bella Vista Zone (and I tried really hard to keep my loyalties to Queen Creek, but BVZ is lyfe).  One of their zone leaders is Elder Janda--the French one who says he's from French Fork because the kid knows my Utah bubble is where it's at.  I told him that every time I see a baguette I think of him and he just looked at me and said, "Where do you see a baguette in America?"  I'm really glad Elder Janda knows to ask the real questions (if you are wanting the answer, I see them on Mondays at Walmart and anytime we get to go to Kneaders).

Later that day, I got to eat lunch with the Richards.  It was so fun to talk to them.  Sister Richards might have slipped up and called me Emily.  I guess you don't know how weird it is to hear your name until you haven't heard it for 16 months.

We went on splits with a YSA named Brinley again.  She's been pondering going on a mission, and this week, she told us that she is going!!  I'm so excited.  It's been fun to get to know her and be here through the experience of her first going on splits to deciding she's going to serve a mission herself.

Oh, and I did get taken hostage this week.  I should probably mention that . . . but it was by one of our bishops and it all worked out well.  There was a thick dust storm, so Sister Patrick and I ran for cover at Bishop Potter's house.  He let us in, and we thought we could be effective with our time and correlate.  Nope.  Bishop told us, "We can correlate anytime! Let's play a game", calls all his children in, and proceeds to have us play multiple rounds of Sleeping Queens and Exploding Kittens.  And we were not permitted to leave because of dust storm.  It was fun and we got to know the Potters better, and hey, now I can say I've been taken hostage.  We also got to share a message with his son who is fellowshipping another boy in the neighborhood.  We showed him the video "Reach Out With Love", and it was cool to just feel the Spirit there.  We were able to tell the Potter boy just how much Heavenly Father loves and trusts him, and I think it was a really good moment for both us and the Potters.

Eventually, the dust storm did clear and we went on our merry way.  We were going to go to a less active members home because it was 8:30 at night, but on the way, we saw a referral pull into their garage.  We have never been able to contact them because there is a locked gate before we can get to their front door, so I went for it (and probably gave Sister Patrick another heart attack for cutting her off on my bike).  They sat in their car for a while and just didn't get out, but I felt like we really needed to just stand there (righteous power struggle, perhaps?). So we did until they got out of the car.  They said hi quickly and like they were trying to brush us off so they could get in and said, "No, there's nothing we need you to do or want you to do," and I don't even know how it happened, but somehow, we got talking to them.  We ended up in a really good conversation.  I found out later that they are very anti-Mormon, but at least they like us!  The wife dubbed herself as my mother and told me I needed to get inside because it was dark, and she ended up giving me and Sister Patrick each a hug before we left.

I've been learning about relying on the Atonement of Jesus Christ (again).  It seems to be a lesson that God is trying to teach me and I'm just not very good at picking up on it.  I had the chance to read a talk I really like called "Becoming Perfect in Christ", which taught me a lot, but then just to make sure I got the message, there were talks about it in Stake Conference, too.  I really liked what one young woman said.  "[During the Atonement] Christ didn't lessen His pain; He enlarged His ability to feel it".  I think when I get stressed or upset or whatever it may be, I try to shrink away from the problem.  I try to minimize it myself.  But I think that when we open ourselves and enlarge our ability to feel it, that is how we can allow Christ's Atonement to help us.  He never shoved our pains under the rug, and He doesn't expect us to either.  He asks us to lay them at His feet and let Him help us.

Hopefully that all made sense. I've just developed an increased appreciation for the Atonement of Jesus Christ.  I seriously have no idea how He did it, but I'm grateful to see the benefits of it every day in my life.  I think that is one of the reasons I was sent to Cortina.  God needed me to be in a place where I could open my heart to Him, and Cortina was the best place for me to learn how to do that.  There's lots of people I've come to love here, and I will definitely miss them, but I'm excited to see what lies ahead.  Hopefully I've caught onto everything God was trying to teach me so I can just go hand-in-hand with the Savior and give it everything in my next (and probably final) area, but if not, I'm glad I have a Savior who is perfectly understanding and will still go hand-in-hand with me as I learn the lessons I need to learn that will enable me to better give it my all.  Missions are great.  I'm glad for the time I've had and the time I still have.  It's going by too fast, but I love the work and my Savior more than I ever thought I could.  I love you, Family!

Sister Emily

1001 N Burk Street
Gilbert, AZ
85234

1.  Don't worry--it's dead and doesn't have a stinger

2.  I'll be honest.  I took this so y'all could see my Polaroid with Sister Donaldson and the scorpion I caught.

3.  We had Elder Gordon's (extra) name tag most of the transfer and took pictures with it all over the mission.  This is the final picture (which we took on the car he and Elder Holland drive).  It was included with the other pictures, his name tag, and a letter from his name tag of all the places it had seen.  We then put it in an envelope addressed to him inside of another envelope addressed to Sister Partridge in the Mission Office.  He then carried this envelope to the mission office, and it finally came back to him through the Queen Creek box at the aforementioned mission office.  Elder Gordon thought it was funny.

Nephi Can Dance

Hi Family!

If you are wondering why I named my email the way I did, it's because after a miscommunication I thought Sister Patrick said that from what she was reading in the Book of Mormon she realized that Nephi was a dancer.  And I'm out of titles for emails.

I got to go on exchanges with Sister Sorenson!  She is always so much fun to be with. While we were on exchanges, we talked to a nice man named Orlando.  He speaks English, but very limited, so we just spoke with him in Spanish.  It was a lot easier to speak with Sister Sorenson backing me up--she took seven years of Spanish before the mission.  He gave us these chocolate mint candies, so now I can check off accepting candy from a stranger.  Don't worry, though.   Sister Sorenson ate hers first and didn't die, so that's when I knew it was safe.  Orlando was very nice, and we were able to send a referral to the Spanish missionaries for them to go meet him.  At the end, Orlando decided to kiss our hand, which totally caught both of us off guard, but such is life.  The awkwardness of a sister missionary is something to be reckoned with.

We got a visit from the Legendary Sister Irvin this week.  She showed up at our house, and it was fun to get to see her.  The next day, the STLs went with us to go get lunch (at Chick-fil-a, so I finally got to use my Christmas present and loved it), and another "dead" missionary was there--Sister Young.  It was good to get to see them.

A miracle happened this week with contacting someone the Bishop asked us to go see.  He had asked us to go visit a part-member family.  We got to the house and realized that it was not the home of the person we were looking for, but rather, the home of a kind, non-member family that we'd met before--they were nice, but not interested.   But miracles happen.  We needed a bathroom break, so we knocked anyway--we figured we knew them, so it wouldn't be too weird.  Tiffany, the person we had met before, answered, and she was very nice again.  On the way out, she mentioned that she was trying to get her garage in order for a yard sale she wanted to do, and miracle number one, she actually accepted our offer to help!  On Saturday, we went over to help with the service, and after our conversation, we realized that this actually was partially the people we were asked to see by the Bishop. Tiffany had been married to a less-active member named Chris, but they got divorced, he has since moved away, and she's gotten remarried.  I will be honest, I was just going to skip the house and go to another house when I originally recognized the house, but because of the chain of events that followed, we were able to build a bit of a relationship with Tiffany and get to know them.  I'm hoping we get to get to know her family better.

Sister Patrick has been on a cookie making kick.  She keeps saying that she's "finally turned into a 'Sister Missionary'".  We got to make cookies with the Lee family, and we had a list of people we wanted to take them to.  One of them was a couple in a different ward.  Chris is a returned missionary with an awesome testimony, but currently, is not attending church and is living with his girlfriend, Elizabeth.  She's the one who believes "kind of like Star Wars".  We stopped by and took the cookies to her, and she appreciated it.  She told us she had read the pamphlets we had left, and it turned to an awesome conversation about faith.

In summary, it's been a week of seeing miracles bloom.  I can't believe how fast the time is flying, and I wish I had so much more time now that I'm starting to figure out what works in missionary work.  It has changed my life to learn of the Savior and His Atonement each day, especially with the new insights I've learned from Elder Anderson.  I know that the message I get to share is the fullness of Christ's gospel, that it has been restored to the earth, and that we have living Apostles and Prophets today.  I love you!

Sister Emily

1001 N Burk Street
Gilbert, AZ
85234

My favorite MTC Comp--she's killin' it.

It's not the lighting--I'm just an old sister missionary (left: newer name tag that I use for church and zone conferences; right: the original name tag from the MTC)

The Armstrongs--they have us over for breakfast every P-Day.

 

The Mighty Mango

Hi Family!

Happy Wednesday P-Day!  I guess we will start out with some stress relief, and I will tell you about the Mighty Mango.  We went to a new family's home this week to share a message with them.  They had made us brownies too, so we ate brownies with them.  While eating them, their little boy kept going off about how he loves Naked Juice, especially the flavor "Mighty Mango".  So for the rest of the night he kept talking about Mighty Mango and how it makes you a ninja.  Who knew?

Other fun news: It has been officially decreed (by me) that I have a great district leader.  Why? Because he fulfilled his commitment.  Explanation: Every night, the district leader calls everyone in his stewardship to see how their day was and to ask if there is anything he can do for them.  Usually, we are pretty well set, so there's not much he can do for us.  It gets pretty old having the same conversation every night, so I started thinking of different commitments for Elder Hurst when I was back in Highland Zone.  One night I asked him to part his hair down the middle and take a picture, and guess what--HE DID IT!  So now that has been my standard to decide if my district leader is an average district leader or a great district leader.  Well, ladies and gents, I am happy to say that Elder Thomas did part his hair down the middle, took a pictures, and then even tied it into his district meeting the next day.  Gold star.  (Unfortunately, I don't have the picture.  He said no.)

Sister Patrick and I have been killing it just trying to find people to teach, and we had some fun experiences and even made a new friend!  We were looking at our area book, which tells us who missionaries have met in the past that might want to learn more or who have been learning.  We found someone who was written on there a couple times (from multiple encounters with missionaries and even being referred by their neighbor) named Victoria.  Sister Patrick stopped by last week on exchanges, and met Victoria's husband, Emeka.  He's from Nigeria.  He said he was already a member and they attended a ward just a few miles away.  We're thinking, "Sweet! An active part-member family!"  I get back in the area, and we stop by a few days later.  Well, Victoria was busy, but we were able to talk to Emeka, and turns out, even though he goes to a ward, he was never baptized.  He'd been taking the missionary lessons, then went back to Nigeria to run for a position in the government, and never got baptized before he left.  Now he's in our area, and he still wants to be baptized!

We also met Rob, a very nice Catholic man.  He invited us to come over because he thought it would be the neighborly thing to do, but he's not interested in learning.  It was funny though, because Sister Patrick and I go in, not sure what to expect.  Sister Patrick had been by before on exchanges, and Rob prayed for them and asked for President Monson to learn to the truth, and for Pope (*pauses because he can't remember the name of the pope*) Francis to speak the truth.  He really wanted us back over, though, so we went and just hoped for the best.  He sat down on the couch, offered us water, and pulls out a piece of paper.  Turns out it's the story of "A Catholic Utterance" where a Catholic man makes a comment that "Mormons don't realize how genius their claim is" and essentially says, "It's either the Mormons or the Catholics that have the fullness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ".  Rob asked if we could agree on that, and we said yes.  He was happy with that, and then talked about each of the seven sacraments in the Catholic church and just asked about what they were like in our church.  Eventually he turns to talking about the Book of Mormon and the Bible.  Sister Patrick bore this awesome testimony of how the Book of Mormon has helped her, and instead of talking about the Book of Mormon, Rob just changes directions to talking about how we use the King James Version and how that's not the correct version of the Bible.  Lols.  Anyway, I wasn't sure what my purpose in being there was, but I think we at least gave him a good encounter with missionaries.  Rob is very nice, and I thought he might like the Bible Videos on lds.org.  Things to ponder.

We also had a fun service project with Tim and Mollie.  They are also not currently interested in learning, but they love having us in their home.  They are a good pair.  The service project is one that she'd be happy to teach the Young Women or Relief Society, so we are thinking about doing that.  We helped her cut grocery bags to make into yarn--yes, yarn.  Well, technically it's called "pyarn" for plastic yarn.  What happens with it is after it is made into yarn, instead of the bags going into a landfill or something, they can be crocheted into blankets for the homeless.  It's really cool, and Mollie appreciated the help.

We've been having weekly exchanges with the Sister Training Leaders because the Zone Leaders asked them to do so.  I got to teach with Sister Donaldson last week. One thing I've been working on is asking inspired questions, and Sister Donaldson made a comment about the questions I asked.  We had another lesson with Hunter.  We taught him the Word of Wisdom.  He's willing to try because he knows it's true, but he's reluctant as well.  He's a good kid, so keep him in your prayers.

This is getting rather long winded, but I still have more words, so quick update, and then I have some incredible things I learned.  My update is that the Arizona Gilbert Mission is officially authorized to use technology!  Some of the leadership got to meet with Elder Bednar the other week for training, and we will be switching over to Samsung smart phones the week of September 18th.  I'm glad it's happening at this point in my mission because I've been able to have fifteen months without it, and it will teach me how to use technology with a purpose when I get home.  I'm also excited because people who will be finishing their missions in 2017 get a loaner phone from the mission, so I don't have to buy one.  We also had another special visit which I will get to later.

First, I wanted to share my Sunday experience.  I had a couple things on my mind and was trying to find answers.  We happened to be going into a sacrament meeting, so during the sacrament, instead of reading the Book of Mormon, like I normally do, I took time for a personal interview with the Savior.  I imagined Him sitting there, giving me support, and thought of what He would tell me.  It was a powerful experience that I definitely want to do again.  I realized later that the reason I was able to have that is because of the opportunities I've had to learn OF Christ, rather than just about Him.  Especially from studying the scriptures, I've had so many opportunities to learn Christ's character.  If I knew just about Christ, I'd be able to guess what He'd say to me about as well as I could guess what advice George Washington would give to me.  Probably something about a cherry tree and wooden teeth, which isn't going to help me much.  But as we learn of Christ, we really get to know who He is, and we are able to have that personal relationship with Him that I really needed that Sunday during Sacrament Meeting.

I gained an appreciation for obscure characters in the Book of Mormon, and so I want to quick tell you about Lehi.  This is not the Lehi in 1 Nephi or 3 Nephi.  He's in Alma.  He's the captain over one of the Nephite armies under the direction of Captain Moroni.  He quietly follows orders. I don't know about anyone else, but I had never noticed him before.  However, in Alma 53:2, it gives us a little description of Lehi saying, "Now behold, this Lehi was a man who had been with Moroni in the more part of all his battles; and he was a man like unto Moroni, and they rejoiced in each other’s safety".  Well, I liked that it said, "like unto Moroni" because everyone loves Captain Moroni.  But interestingly enough, the footnote took me to Alma 48:17 (and I'm also including 18).

"Yea, verily, verily I say unto you, if all men had been, and were, and ever would be, like unto Moroni, behold, the very powers of hell would have been shaken forever; yea, the devil would never have power over the hearts of the children of men.  Behold, he was a man like unto Ammon, the son of Mosiah, yea, and even the other sons of Mosiah, yea, and also Alma and his sons, for they were all men of God."

Lehi, although he was not a leader, was compared to a man like Moroni, and Moroni is compared to great missionaries, Alma and the Sons of Mosiah.  But most of all, Alma and the Sons of Mosiah are amazing because they are men that learned to use the Atonement of Jesus Christ.  It gave me an appreciation for the little guy--the one that's never in leadership, but has what's most important straight in his life.  He's definitely on my list of favorite Book of Mormon characters.

As for our special visit, I was privileged to meet Elder Neil L. Anderson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles this week.  Because we are getting technology, he came to do a training for the entire mission.  It was incredible.  He happened to already know two of the missionaries because their father's had been missionaries in France when he was the mission president over that mission.  Best quote, "I don't mean to make you feel like Elder Janda and Sister Cruse are more special... but they are."  I died.  I especially just thought it was cool that even though he is an apostle, he remembers his missionaries that he had stewardship over.

The meeting was absolutely incredible.  Each of us got to shake his hand, which was cool, but what built my testimony is what transpired the next two hours.  President Wheeler had encouraged each of us to take an inspired question to ask Elder Anderson if we had the chance.  We also were invited to take questions to ponder in our hearts.  Well, family, I had six questions.  I had the opportunity to clarify one of my questions with him, but other than that, there wasn't time for missionaries to ask questions.  But in two hours, with no Q&A session, he still answered the questions of all 150 missionaries present--including all six of my questions.  If that is not in tune with the Spirit, I don't know what is.  It really strengthened my testimony that he is called of God.  One thing he talked about is having a solidified testimony of Jesus Christ. Over anything else, set your foundation in Him because if you know Jesus is the Christ, you can overcome any other question.  He then invited us to read the New Testament and ask ourselves if we really believe the words we read.  Then he asked us to pick ten New Testament scriptures that we really believe, that mean something to us, and memorize them.  Finally, he asked us to pick ten scriptures from the Book of Mormon and do the same thing.  He said by doing this, we will have those scriptures come to us in times we couldn't have planned for and that we will never leave this church.  It taught me to appreciate having faith in Jesus Christ more--especially in others.  He also talked about being patient, and said that "spiritual knowledge usually compounds itself over time".  God is always leading us to the next step.  He surprisingly didn't train much on technology, but it was better than I ever could have imagined.

Family, I know this is the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ.  His Atonement is what makes everything possible.  As my ward mission leader, Brother Lee, says, "None of us are above falling. And none of us are below coming back."  The Plan of Salvation is all about repentance made possible through Jesus Christ.  It's trying again, being patient as the Lord shows you one more step.  I LOVE YOU!

Sister Emily

1001 N Burk Street
Gilbert, AZ
85234

When missionaries get to paint sidewalk

Arizona might be mini Utah, but it's also mini Australia with lots of Mormons

We went back to Desert Ridge for Sister Patrick's 17th month mark #throwback

We played with a puppy today.

Lots of Little Miracles

Hello Everybody!

Important Business before I get started: next P-Day will be Wednesday, August 30 because we are going to the temple that day, and the First Presidency has asked that missionaries only go to the temple on P-Day.  So hang on tight there.  End of important business.

One thing that I am learning this transfer is how to properly use the different forms of "y'all".  Apparently, there are different ways to use it.  There's "y'all", "all y'all", and "all of y'all".  Now that I am learning the correct grammar of y'all, I use all y'all at all the times when it should be a y'all just to have some fun with Sister Patrick.  Also, Good news.  There is a Halloween store that is open, and I saw Halloween decorations at another store.

But worry not family, I am doing missionary things too.  Unfortunately, we went to our follow-up appointment with Mike, and while we could hear a small child repeatedly calling "Mommy, Daddy!  Aren't you going to answer the door??"  the front door was not answered.  Fuzzy is headed to college today, so as soon as we find out his new address, we will be able to make sure the missionaries and his YSA ward take good care of him.  We also had dinner with Jeff and his family last night.  That went well.  They are a good family.  Other than that, we are still working on finding and building more member trust.

We've been doing a lot of service, so we got to do some service for Sister Lancaster.  She works three full-time jobs because she is a single mom, so she has a lot on her plate.  We helped her with her laundry, and Mom, you would have been so proud.  We got it all sorted, and we cleaned up her laundry room too.  While we were working, she insisted that we have music, and thankfully, our mission rules are very open on music.  We can listen to anything that invites the spirit and helps us focus on our missionary purpose, so one of the songs that has helped me stay focused is "Fight Song/Amazing Grace" by the Piano Guys.  I felt like showing that song to Sister Lancaster, and right as I'm about to tell her why I like the song as a missionary, she says, "Stop, you're freaking me out".  I was quite alarmed by this, so I just stopped talking all together, but then she continues, "I was just thinking about Fight Song for my mom today".  Her mom has cancer, which is why Sister Lancaster thought of the song.  It probably doesn't sound like a huge miracle, but I thought it was a cool tender mercy from Heavenly Father that I thought to show her that song on that specific day.

I also got to go on exchanges this week, so I got to tag along with Sister Butler and Sister Sorensen (there's another tender mercy--I think the only person that could have followed Sister Sprouse as my STL was my MTC companion, Sister Sorenson).  They are teaching a young man named Hunter.  I got to go to the lesson, and fun thing, Hunter is friends with Fuzzy!!  We taught Hunter about the Gospel of Jesus Christ by reading Mosiah 26 with him.  We had intended to invite him to come to church and the New Member Fireside, but instead, the Sisters invited him to be baptized.  It was so cool because the way he responded was like he had been waiting for them to ask.  He's on date for October 14, and I'm really happy I got to be there for that lesson.

I think one thing God has been teaching me this week is that if I mess up, I can TRY AGAIN!  Novel concept, right?  Dad had asked me to read "Overcoming the World" from last conference, which was really good.  It had lots of easy ways to just become more like the Savior.  I made a list and put it on my wall.  I also read a scripture that I really liked.  It's Alma 27:18, which says, "Now was not this exceeding joy? Behold, this is joy which none receiveth save it be the truly penitent and humble seeker of happiness".  And just to make sure I got the point, I read something this week that Sister Wheeler gave me about "self-as-context", which pretty much means remembering that your future is wide open to decide who and what you want to be.  I'm working really hard to remember to just "try again" and keep doing this work.  It's great!  Well, I love you family!

Sister Emily

1001 N Burk Street
Gilbert, AZ
85234

Exchanges

Some kids in the neighborhood

We got ice cream with Sisters Cammon and Jensen today.