 |
| (I am not sure who/what/where of this photo. I pulled this off the parents Facebook page.) |
Wow! Okay. My last email was so not very organized, and we didn't have a lot of time. But we have more time today, so here we go. (I'm sorry if I repeat things I already said.)
I am in Bend! And I LOVE Bend. There are not very many missionaries, especially Sisters, on this side of the mountain. There are Two Spanish speaking sisters in Redmond, and there are our STL's (sister training leaders) in Prineville. They are in our zone. In our district there is just Sister Ure and I, and 3 sets of Elders. So we are kind of outcasts, but we love it. We have a car (a 2015 Subaru) and I am a little bit obsessed with it. Because our area is pretty spread out, we do end up driving most of the day. But we did made a goal to try and be out of the car and walking more. It is a great way to earn member trust-if they see us out working. We live in a cute little duplex. It is covered in pictures of the temples and prophets and Jesus. We love our little home. We get fed every single day. Which is nice. But also, apparently, most sisters gain quite a bit of weight here, so I'm preparing to be chubby for the next year and a half. In the past week, we found 5 new investigators, and two of our investigators are now on date for baptism!!!!!!!!! Their names are Sharon and Kiff. When we were teaching a lesson about the importance of church attendance, there was a pause and I looked over at Sister Ure and we both knew we had to ask them if they would be baptized. Neither of us could breathe, and then Sister Ure asked if they would prepare to be baptized on April 8th. They were surprised, but said they would definitely work towards that. They are mid twenty's and living together and Sharon loves her coffee. So they have a ways to go with the Law of Chastity and Word of Wisdom, but both Sister Ure and I have a lot of faith in them and think that they will have the faith to be able to make some changes. Because Sister Ure and I are both so positive and excited about missionary work, things are happening. We had interviews with President Tateoka who was in town this weekend. He told me to work on paying attention to everything Sister Ure does. Because at the end of this transfer, I will have to lead the area. I will still have a trainer, but she won't know the members or directions, so I have to get prepared for that. Missionary work is hard. There are a lot of people who don't open the door for us, and the other half usually tell us to go away, (some in nicer ways than others). But man I LOVE IT. Even if the day is long and hard, as long as I get to share my testimony with ONE person, or help ONE person get closer to Christ, then it is worth it. I feel like I am finally adjusting. Some funny things that happened this week-A few days ago I realized that we were running low on milk, so I have been eating Yogurt or fruit for breakfast so Sister Ure could use the milk. And today, after shopping, Sister Ure told me the past three days she has been putting CHOCOLATE MILK in her FROSTED MINI WHEATS so that I could use the milk. I was laughing so hard!!! Apparently, we still have a bit to go with communication. What the heck! She's so funny! Another story.... to preface... literally EVERYONE here has a dog. We were out tracting and knocked on this door and dogs started barking. It sounded like a few but we couldn't tell. They open the door and invite us inside and after about a minute I have counted 7 dogs. It took SO MUCH self control for me not to laugh at just how many dogs there were in this tiny house. It was so unexpected. The last funny thing was we went to visit this elderly couple that is less active last night. We went in and sat down. We realized they both were wearing Disney sweatshirts, and Sister Ure commented on a bookshelf they had covered with Disney figurines and trinkets. She said something like, "So I am going to take a wild guess, and say that you guys like Disney." The man replied, "You don't know the half of it." We laugh a bit and the he said,"Well, since you said that, come on upstairs really quick." So we follow him upstairs and there is this HUGE room filled from floor to ceiling with Disney collectibles-stuffed animals, clocks, baseballs, cars, statues, tea cups, paintings. It was insane. Sis Ure and I were flabbergasted. He was so proud and told us he had been collecting since 1962. It was so funny. Both Sister Ure and I were having an Eh day and this Disney lover cheered us right up. I love it here in Bend. I'm going to be better this week about taking pictures. There are so many nice members and nonmembers, and Sister Ure and I know that good stuff is coming. I love all of you guys. I encourage you to all take full advantage of the Atonement-whether it be the cleansing power, or the healing power, or the strengthening power. Through Christ's Atonement, we can literally be WHOEVER we want to be. Sister Ure has been bearing her testimony about this a lot lately. If there is something about you that you don't like, or if there is something you wish you could change, DO IT. Through Christ, we can change and become who he wants us to be. I have already seen this so profoundly in life as a missionary. I LOVE THIS GOSPEL. It still doesn't feel real that I get this amazing opportunity to share it. HOW GREAT IS MY CALLING?! God is good and we are blessed to know of him.
LOVE YOU!
Sister Emery
No comments:
Post a Comment