Family history

So we have been working with Brother N and teaching him a lesson about family history. He is usually emotional during our lessons because the spirit is so strong. But this time he was really emotional and he kept looking over his shoulder. Toward the end of the lesson he said, "I can feel my mom here telling me I need to do this NOW!" So we set up another appt to do family history. It took three appointments and prayer to know what to do, but we finally got him signed in. His family goes back to the 1700's". I looked at his 9 gen fan chart, his dad's family is full all the way back 9 generations. His mom's side however, goes back to his grandparents. Sister Hansen and I instantly understand why his mom was telling him to get to work. We were all crying and covered with chills at this point. She really was there telling him to find her family. There were green arrows everywhere, so what was found needed work done.
We may not have as many lost family members as this brother, but we do have lost family. Mom can't do it alone. President Kimball on pg 164 of PMG said "Genealogy IS temple work" it IS missionary work. We are saving souls and introducing them into the temple and providing them a way to make it to the celestial kingdom. Just like brother N felt guidance, we can have similar experiences. We can see miracles and be closer to our family that has gone before us. We will be brought closer to the Spirit of the Lord as we do family history. I PROMISE!

Letter to mom 9-24-13

We have been having some pretty bad rain, but mostly it comes in the night when we are sleeping. Except one day we were out and had to sit in the rain for an appointment. The rain looked and felt like snow but it wasn't white. Weird. Other than that September days are beautiful. So sunny, no humidity, a slight breeze and just flawless temperatures for being outside. Until the sun goes down around 7:30, then it cools off.
My mission is a lot out of my comfort zone and a lot of change, but there is no where else I would rather be right now. I love Waseca. I love the gospel and want so badly to help people come closer to Jesus Christ, to get people to the temple to partake of temple blessings. I love being a missionary!
Brother P is doing great! We left one Sunday and he was in 2 Nephi 17 when we came back the next week he was in Jacob 1 which is huge for an old man who refused to read the Book of Mormon for 30 years. He always asks great questions like "what is the doctrine of Christ" and "What is baptism of fire?" He is still concerned that he hasn't received an answer to his prayers. Maybe he just needs to come to church before that happens.
There was a part member family that moved away from Waseca. We were tracking in the town they moved to, but didn't know their address. We had his moms address and figured we would stop by later in the day. So we started tracting and the first door we knocked on had their last name on it! They weren't home but later when we stopped by his mother's she told us it was the right address. We were amazed. Heavenly Father totally guided us to be there so we could get their address and still be in contact with the family. "Miracles happen once in a while, when you believe"

Tender mercies

9-16-13 letter

Last week we had a pretty awesome miracle. In our nightly planning we had an hour where nothing was planned, so we looked at where we were going to be after that and just looked at the map and choose a street nearby. The next day we go to this street and it is the shortest street I have ever seen. All the houses were facing another way. We were worried we now had nothing to do. Then we saw the one house on the street. So we knocked on the door. I was halfway expecting no one to be home because it was 12:30 in the afternoon. But a 20 year old girl opened the door, and she totally listened to everything we had to say! She wanted to learn more about our religion! We are going to see her again tonight to teach her a real, sit-down lesson. I am so excited! 2 Nephi 26:13 if we have faith in God he will show us many miracles. Look for the miracles in your life daily, because as long as you have faith that they will be there, they will be! I love you all and I love being a missionary. This is the greatest blessing! With love, Sister Smith

Pictures 9-21-13

                                                                         For pulling weeds with Brother Tom, he carved these                                                                             rocks for the girls. Emily's is the one above her name tag. 

        Emily gathered rocks and sand at Clear Lake for an object lesson. 

You have to put the gospel first in your life or else there won't be time for everything.

They went for a walk around Clear Lake Park and found these sidewalk chalk messages. This one is Emily's favorite.

Happy for some time to curl up in bed with blanket and popcorn.
 

Letter home 9-9-13 Spirit of Contention

This week was so weird. We had maybe 2 appointments the whole week. I have never felt the spirit of contention in me as much as I did this week (while on my mission) and I was irritated a ton. Looking back on it , it was a really good week. I had a lot of time to discipline myself and to work on improvement. There was a lot of the adversary there to push me away from the spirit, but it never did go away no matter how often I prayed or how much scripture I read until I prayed for the right thing; charity and opportunities to serve my companion. After I began having a willing attitude I began again to be happy and to feel the spirit strong again! Similarly, Brother P is praying to know of God is there. He has been doing that for around three weeks and I think he is getting frustrated that he doesn't get an answer. (He has received them but I don't think he recognizes them) anyway, yesterday when we saw him he had a different spirit. He had questions and he really wanted to know the answers. I have faith that he could be baptized soon if it is the Lord's will, but I feel like for him it will be a long, slow process. But he is progressing!! I know he is coming closer to Christ and as he prays with the right attitude, he will receive undeniable answers!!
I know God is there. Love, Sister Smith

Testimony of Joseph Smith and temple work. 9-9-13

Sunday school here is so good. We had a lesson about Joseph Smith and how many things this gospel has because of him. We talked quite a bit about Hymn 29 "A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief" because it was sang the day the prophet died. I am amazed by verse 7. I got chills when we were talking about how this verse relates to the temple and also the last 3 lines how the things we do to others are the things we do to Christ. Then this morning in study I read from PMG a quote by Elder Dalin H. Oaks "We do not preach and teach in order to 'bring people into the church' or to increase the membership of the church. We do not preach and teach just to persuade people to live better lives...we invite all to come unto Christ by repentance and baptism and confirmation in order to open the doors of the celestial kingdom to the sons and daughters of God." Joseph Smith made us able to do the temple work, without him where would we be? I know that some of the most important work to be done is to encourage and strengthen those members who have not yet made it to the temple. I'm trying to help people here in Waseca prepare for the temple, and the celestial kingdom. I told Brother N the other day I will see him there! I know that is the best place to be. I encourage you to reflect on the blessings you have received from the temple and to set goals of what you can do to either prepare yourself to go to the temple (for Morg & Cass) or for everyone else, who and how can you help to receive those ordinances (living or dead) : ) We have been given temples because of many prophets who were willing to do what God asked. Don't let the temples go unused!!!! I know Joseph Smith was a prophet called of God. I love you all! Sister Smith

Mail to grandma and grandpa 9-15-13

Helen Park wrote:


Dear Sister Smith,
How are you doing? I am glad you are enjoying tracting. The bugs sound crazy. I would probably go to bed and hear the buzzing in my sleep. When Dennis was in Georgia on his mission they had tons of cockroaches. He would send us a tape (it was in the olden days you know) and after every few words you would hear them smack a cockroach. They kept track on the wall how many they killed. At least you don't have them in your house (I hope). You probably have the same lesson as we do in Relief Society but there was a thought I really liked and it reminded me of you. It was about when the Savior asked his apostles to "Feed My Sheep". They said "Go forth with your whole heart, be devoted wholly to my cause. These people in the world are my brethren and sisters. My feelings are exercised towards them. Take care of my people. Feed my flock. Go forth and preach the gospel. I will reward you for all your sacrifices. Do not think that you can make too great a sacrifices in accomplishing this work." That is exactly what you are doing and you will definitely be blessed for your sacrifices. I think we all need be better at taking care of our brothers and sisters whether we are in the mission field or not. We can all be missionaries. Keep up the good work and your Heavenly Father will watch over you and help you as you go through each day. We love you and you are always in our prayers. Love, Grandma and Grandpa


Sister and Elder Park,
I am doing great! How are you? We have never found any of those bugs in our apartment. We found a cricket in our apartment 2 nights ago though and I almost had a heart attack until I realized what it was! haha! it was funny But Sister Hansen had to kill it for me because I am a baby.
We actually don't go to Relief Socitey, because I am the Primary Pianist in the branch so I am excited to hear this relief society thought! . . . It was really good. We really are all missionaries. It says so many times in Preach My Gospel that missionaries can not do it on their own. The members have to help. the more time I am out here the more I realize how important it is that we are all missionaries! The way that our members care for each other is what draws a lot of people to our church anyway. it is really important to show that we care about each member of the congregation. I love you too!
With Love, Sister Smith

Emily on her bike

 

Sister Hansen in her tiny chair they found on the side of the road in New Richland while they were tracting. The Book of Mormon is appropriate because she gives them out like they were candy!

Just chillin in the apartment waiting for laundry to dry.

Tracting in Waterville this week. Butterflies everywhere. 

Email to Mel. Great message for all

HI!!! I love freezer corn! and the corn here is sooo good. It would be great to have freezer corn to save for later! I miss homemade jam too! haha! all these things I used to have time to do. Oh well, I will have time later in life:)Has it been raining a lot in Duchesne? I guess that would be good, last I heard there was a ton of fires over that way. . . I know I have already been gone for 2 months. . . can you believe it?

I am doing great I have not been transferred. I am still here in Waseca but my companion went home and I got a new one named Sister Hansen who has been on her mission for 9 months. She is nice :) We only have 1 investigator right now but we have a lot of less-active people we are working with to help them come back to activity. I love so many of the people here! It is incredible!

GO DO FAMILY HISTORY!!!!!!! seriously that is so important to missionary work it is incredible! Doing family history is like serving a mission for the dead people. There are so many who have died and cannot progress until their work has been done. They will be stuck in Spirit Prison until we do their work! Mel, The temple is the greatest place ever. So many blessings are there and I know that as you do family history and prepare them for baptisms, you can continue to prepare yourself and one day prepare all those people in your family tree for endowment and sealing as well :) You can do it!

I love you tons and I am excited to be in the temple with you one day! With Love, Sister Smith!

Email 9-16-13

Well, maybe we don't have pictures because it is usually either Me or You holding the camera? it is sad that we don't have more but I know we have some. Does Linds or Megan not have any either? Does McCoy have to come home or is he sticking it out there? It is super funny that Elder McLaws posted that on Facebook. I really was thinking about it a lot recently! Way to go! we are connected, maybe it's a message that the Lord is reminding to all of his missionaries to remind others who they are! I loved that thought from grandma it was so good. People definitely need to remember who they are, and that their Heavenly Father is there for them ALWAYS. No matter how damaged or dirty they may be. As far as I know I am allowed to watch the video of Cooper and I loved it! he is so big! WOW, my little buddy can walk! This is a picture of Clear Lake (the clean lake in Waseca) it makes it kind of easy to not get in the water when it is this color! :D On Mon, Sep 16, 2013, Christy Smith wrote: Hello! I was just wondering why you and I don't have any pictures of us together. I'm so sad about that. Just found out McCoy young is really sick something he got from mosquitoes. Well I just wanted to say a quick hello today. I wrote a good letter to send out today so hopefully you will get it fast. Love you so much. Keep up the good work. Prayers and hugs. Mom Remember who you are.

Family letter 9-2-13

This week was so great! We spent a lot of time tracting which I am actually beginning to enjoy. We were in a town in our area called Waterville. And I've decided the sidewalks in Minnesota are so messed up! Me and Sister Hansen were having fun taking pictures.

In Waterville sharing the Restoration lesson

Sidewalks are so slanted, it's crazy!

There are these bugs in Minnesota and when it gets hot they hum REALLY loud. I was telling Sister Hansen that the noise of those bugs always makes me think of the song Thunder by Boys like Girls where it says "Your voice was the soundtrack of my summer..." The noise of those bugs is the soundtrack of my summer, because we spend a lot of time outside tracting, listening to the bugs as people don't answer their doors :) I guess one of the tracks on the soundtrack of my summer would also be me saying the first vision.

We had a meeting with President Donner, the Branch President. Toward the end of the meeting we asked him if there was a specific message that he wanted us to share with the people we had been discussing. He just smiled and said "Remind them who they are." Right now it made me think of the conference talk where President Uchtdorf (maybe) talked about the lion king when Mufassa comes to Simba in the cloud. We should all look that one over and compare notes! Anyway, after that we searched the scriptures for one that we could share to remind people that they are children of God. I found D&C 50:40-41. I LOVE this scripture. We are all little children in the eternal scheme of things. And we still have a lot left to learn. We can't do everything now, we have to grow first. Then 41 reminds us not to fear because the Lord loves us. God is our Father and we are more like him than we know. The fact that we are sons and daughters of God speaks volumes about our individual potential.
I love you. The Lord loves you too! I pray for you daily. God has a divine plan specialized for each of us! I KNOW that. I <3 being a missionary! Love, Sister Smith

Email 9-9-13

I LOVE hearing about the things you are doing! I am glad to hear that someone is keeping you busy! :D MMMM the canning and picking sounds so great! I can't believe that it took so long to box all the potatoes! CRAZY! I am glad to hear you are keeping busy. P.S. thanks SOOO much for the jam you sent that made my day!
I am so glad to hear that Elder Mclaws is thoughtful! haha! I am doing much better. having a companion that is extremely optomistic helps :) I don't have to marry him, he could just be a good family friend anyway! LOL!
I did hear about that accident in Idaho, it made my stomach turn too. I will be extremely careful. I have made it a goal to not ever get a ticket while on my mission. I don't even go 5 over the speed limit even more usually. I promise I will be extremely careful!
The Lord really does want us to learn on our own who he is. So many things here I wish he would just tell me. Tell me what to teach to Brother P, Tell me whether or not to push Sister G to come to church, Tell me what to do for Joann. . .But I need to learn to make good decisions on my own, that IS why we came to the earth. . . recently our already small pool of investigators has became even smaller which was very discouraging but it made me think "okay what do we do?" I feel like it is something saying "focus more on the less-actives, don't forget about them." With investigators it has always been our job to make appointments but I forget that we need to call, text, stop by the less- active members too. We need to set up the appointments and invite them to come closer to Jesus again. I feel more at peace with not having as many investigators because I do need to focus on not being selfish, and serving others memeber, less active, and nonmembers. everyone is important. Yes I still want to find investigators and to teach people but there are other things to do too.
I am so sad that Bryson came home. He is so great and I want him to have a personal conversion. He had already been out for 3 months! the worst was basically over! I hope that he will stay strong in the gospel. :( that makes me want to cry. I would never be able to live with myself if I came home early. Yes this is hard but so is college, so is life, no matter what life is gonna be hard, why not help people?? I was really hard to not call you when I had the phone but I had chosen to be obedient. choosing before you HAVE to has generally been a really good idea. becasue then when the temptation has come, you already have your decision made!
Tell Raelynn to be patient the first couple p-days are basically STRESSFUL. I think I was more stressed on P-day than any other day for the first while. BUt that is crazy taht he hasn't written his family much yet. I get an e-mail from him weekly! YAY! I love you so much! Thank you for the packages, and letters and prayers, and thoughts through out the week!
With Love, Em!
p.s. i just found another e-mailing rule. I am only allowed to reply to one e-mail per reipient per week. So if you send multiple e-mails throughout the week don't be alarmed if you only get one back, I will just do my best to combine them and I LOVE getting all the pictures! they are so fun!
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Letter to mom Sept. 1, 13

 Sun, Sep 1, 2013 mom wrote a letter from Idaho Falls:

Good morning. It is morning to me anyway. It is Sunday and we are just waiting for 1:00 church so I thought I would write you a note. Sorry I don't have any paper and typing is easy today. Grandma called me Friday to tell me I had mail here in Idaho Falls. Oh man, I couldn't believe I had to wait to get there to read my mail. Did you send it earlier? Can't believe it made it Friday. I was so happy. I searched the whole house trying to find the mail at 1:00 am. I found it though. 

I was wondering why you challenged Tyler's family to read the Book of Helaman. I have taken up the challenge myself. I read at least three columns a day. So yesterday I was reading chapter 5:11. So "angels" are sent to declare the conditions of repentance. There you are again mentioned in the scriptures. Also read vs 18 I know you do have power and authority given to you. I know you are watched over and it gives me so much comfort. You are so hard on yourself. Is it because you are so close to the Spirit and trying to save people from their sins that you see your weaknesses. As far as being able to choose to be happy or be good. You do choose it. Everyday you get up and say, today will be a great day and I choose to be happy and do what is right. Just because things go wrong or unexpected things happen, doesn't necessarily mean it had anything to do with your choice to be happy or not. Unfortunately, we all have free agency. Maybe somebody else didn't choose to be happy and you cross paths with them. We are all human and are not expected to be perfect. As long as we are striving for perfection or just trying to be the best we can each day. That's all we can do. So be patient with yourself. You know what happens when we get to that perfection stage? Heavenly Father removes us from this world. I don't want that to happen to you. So a few weaknesses that need to be improved is a good thing. Right??? Heavenly Father wants us to know what our strengths are or what we are good at. It isn't prideful to recognize the good in ourselves unless we post it on facebook and brag about it everywhere!

I never did feel like you had anything but pure love for Sister Fink. I'm so glad she is such a good friend for you. How are things going with your new companion? It takes some time, but things in the mission field are sped up. Think how long it took you in Logan to make friends or even say hello for the first time. When you have to part from Sister Hansen, hopefully you will be sad too. Not that I want you to be sad, but it will mean you have another great friend from your mission. The blessings we are receiving from you being on a mission are that we are focusing more on the gospel and making sure we are reading our scriptures and saying prayers. Dad seems to have a little more time home and the business is still doing well. Rick is doing well the the job and has now started school. He was a little side tracked the week after the baby was born. Hopefully he can focus on all that he has on his plate. I feel closer to the Spirit, probably because I am relying on Him to help me get through every day and be the kind of mom you and your brother and sisters need. I am learning so much from you. The scriptures have more meaning. Our lives are just good. |We are happy and have a missionary spirit in our home. You are constantly on my mind. Wondering how you are and what you are doing. So many times the things you write home about are things that we are being taught in Sunday School or Relief Society. Just another witness that we are learning and thinking common thoughts. I love the story about the red house and Brother F. How are things going with Sergio? Hopefully his parents will see the good in the gospel and support his desire to be a better person. Brother O will continue to progress in the gospel. You gave him a great base and push to move forward. You were on of the angels placed on his path. 

Nic's family hasn't heard from him since he came back to the US. His pday must be on Monday, the day he came back and so he hasn't been able to contact them yet. No call from him at the airport or even since he got back saying all was well. It really makes me appreciate your mission president and the first pictures and note saying they received you and you made it safely there. There isn't any word on Braken either. I know they got a phone call at 5:20 am the day he left, but no new posts on his blog. Do you have both of their emails? I do understand you have lots of people to write and email, so every once in a while it you don't get to me, I will be fine. just don't make it a habit. lol. I love D&C 31:3-13 you shared from your studies of the preach my gospel chapter 6. It is so good. See it reminds you to be patient in affliction and be steadfast. 

Cooper is walking all over the place. He still falls and crawls, but is walking so much. I wish i could send you a little video clip of it. So cute and he has so much energy. Wish i could borrow some. Well, i better go get ready for church. My thoughts and prayers are with you daily. Thank you for serving your Heavenly Father and his children. You are such an example to us all. Love yourself! What's not to love. Hugs and Kisses. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox. Mommy

Emily wrote back:

I didn't send the mail earlier, maybe it just gets to Idaho faster than to Utah or something? We challenged Tyler's family to read the Book of Helaman because we wanted to get them in the habit of reading scriptures daily and the book of Helaman was small enough that they could do it before Sister Fink left. But Helaman is a great book!

I am hard on myself but I don't know why I just think I always have been. I just get annoyed that people say you can choose to be happy because I was trying to be happy and I wasn't. When I don't understand I get annoyed and I honestly don't think I can choose to be happy. I can try to be happy and have a good attitude but I am human and negative thoughts are still going to pop into my head. . . I don't know it is one of those things that I need to study more so I can understand better. I am far from perfection, so I don't think you need to worry about me being taken from this world anytime soon! I definitely need to work on recognizing my strengths because i forget to do that a lot.

Things with Sister Hansen are much better. Heavenly Father definitely has things  that we need to learn from each companion we receive. I have a lot to learn from her as well as I think that she can learn something from me (hopefully)  and we need to progress together to improve ourselves. I like her a TON more than I did last week which I am very pleased with!

We haven't met with Sergio since cause school started and he has football practice a ton and what not but hopefully he will keep his appointment with us this week:) 

I have Nic's e-mail but not Braken's. . . I can't believe they haven't been heard from! ahhh! I would have been a basketcase if I didn't get to tell you I was here! Thank you for your support and Love. I will work on loving myself more:) I Love you so much mommy and I really do LOVE being a missionary. It is doing good things for my life now and in the future!

Love, Em XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Do you love your mission?

So I told you I asked all my friends for advice. This is what I got from our friend Elder Mclaws.

I love my mission. I haven't always enjoyed it. I have rough parts. My last transfer in Duchesne I was debating killing my companion or running away but I knew that it would end eventually and that I would grow from it. I always looked at it like a marriage. Would I give up on my wife when times got hard?

haha! Elder McLaws :D It is true some days I do feel like running away, and the worst temptation I have had was holding the phone and knowing your number. I wanted to call you so bad but then I knew that I had already chosen to be an obedient missionary and calling you would not be obedient at all! Elder McLaws is great! hahah! I wouldn't give up on my husband so I guess I won't give up on any of my companions. . . you may have to remind me of that when I have harder companions to get along with.

Guidance from the Holy Ghost

Emily and her companion were tracting this week and didn't really know where to go, so they said a little prayer. This is what happened.
While we were praying I saw Brother F (a less active member who is NEVER home) and I saw a red house.So we went to Brother F's house and he was home! We talked for a little while nothing too serious because he was trying to go somewhere. Then we saw his neighbors outside so we went to talk to them and we gave them a Book or Mormon and he was going to read Moroni 10 and pray about it. Hopefully he will be interested to learn more. Then we went to where I thought the red house was. It wasn't there but we decided to knock on these doors anyway. Nothing too exciting happened. The next day we went to the street I was sure the red house was on. We glanced down the street and we did not see a red house, but we continued to knock on all the doors. Soon on this street we came upon a RED HOUSE! I was so excited! We taught them a restoration lesson and invited them to be baptized. There is a 14 year old there and he said YES! We have to talk to his parents and work around his school schedule. I have faith it will work out! The Lord is definitely going to guide us if we ask for it. Love, Em

Aug 30, 13 Letter home

Today I was studying chapter 6 in Preach My Gospel. I was doing the evaluation on the last page of the chapter. (page 126.) I read question 11 which says: Rate yourself on a scale of 1 to 5. I am confident that I will have a happy and successful mission. In case you can't tell by my last letter, I didn't rate myself a 5. I want my mission to be happy and successful so I read the scripture next to it D&C 31:3-13. I was amazed. Everything that is making me sad is addressed in these 10 verses. It is saying "Hey Emily, be happy. You are the one that chose to go on a mission, now just teach the Gospel. Work hard and you will have success. Your family will be fine you will only be away a little while. Now, be patient and learn to love people. The Holy Ghost will guide you. Pray to avoid temptation. Be faithful. And once again I am reminded that I am not alone. I do love my mission as long as I am teaching people. I love being in lessons and hearing how people are gaining a testimony of this or that. I love serving people, so long as I stay busy I like it. Sorry if I sounded like I hate everything because I don't. The branch is great! Teaching people is great. Serving people is great. Studying so much is great. I just need to learn to be patient with myself and the changes that need to happen. I love you all so much and pray for your safety daily.

To mom:
I quickly discovered how difficult it is to switch companions. I didn't know it would be so hard, but
WOW! People are so different, but slowly we are getting used to each other and how we communicate. I am beginning to love her. Brother O moved away. It basically broke my heart. I was so excited to have a baptism and to feel the joy everyone talks about to be a part of someone's conversion. But I guess the time is not right for him yet.
Our P day in Mankato was so fun. We played ultimate frisbee, which was silly because boys are frisbee hogs but that's ok we got to run around and relieve stress. Then we ate at Token BBQ. The food was so good. Then we played kickball and had a small water balloon fight. It was nice to be able to sit with other missionaries even though nobody knows what it is like to serve in Waseca, they are my age and they are friendly. I just love feeling like I have friends.
I have been trying so hard to be who God wants me to be. I know I'm not being patient. I just want to say I will be happy or obedient and have it happen. I often find myself focusing on things I need to fix about myself and nothing good. I feel like I have been prideful when I think about things I am good at. I know Heavenly Father has given me talents. I just need to recognize them and strengthen them.

How do you know?

We had a lesson in RS today (in Idaho of all places) about learning to be happy. Here are my notes: the plan of happiness with bring me the most joy. Don't let trials and hardships become the center of my life. They are a part of life and we can't let the deprive us of the joys of mortality. Willingly allow the Lord to lead me through my trials. Don't question every prompting. SEEK FOR HAPPINESS just like we would seek for charity or faith. LOOK TOWARD THE SUNSHINE AND YOUR SHADOWS WILL ALWAYS BE BEHIND YOU.

Response to Lindsey's letter:

Wow, it seems like we have had a similar week! Searching for a reason and a purpose and then realizing that success is not always found on a list or in a planner. Last week I did focus on the little successes. I am actually writing all the miracles I recognize daily on my calendar and I LOVE seeing my calendar at the end of the month full of miracles! I absolutely loved being a missionary last week! We did a lot of tracting but I am beginning to like it more, and I am not so scared to talk to people. There are still a ton of times when I say stupid things, or don't know what to say at all so an opportunity is lost but I am learning! One time this week I was discouraged because I felt like all we were doing was service for members and I felt like I wasn't being effective and in small branches the mission rules change because they expect us to serve more because we don't have as many appointments. I don't like when they have to change the rules and make them easier for me, so I was feeling like the rules were expecting me to not be great. Then I realized what a stupid thing that was to be discouraged about. Heavenly Father knows I love to serve people, so he let me be in a place where I get to do 10 hours of service a week! Being in Waseca is such a blessing! My calling is to do what I love, serve people!
We had a meeting with the branch president and we had mentioned finding new people to teach and he just looked at us and said "I'm not sure how you feel about not having new people to teach but these people you are teaching are his children too and they need saving too." We are working with a lot of less active members. So that touched me a lot. Yes, my job is to baptize but in my blessing to be set apart as a missionary it does say I will have special success with less-active members. . .HELLO!!!! That is why we are teaching them, they need to be invited to come to Christ too!
I know that I needed to come on a mission. I have so many things to learn! I am excited to see who God will mold me into while I am in Minnesota! Linds, I love you so much and I know that the Plan of Salvation is God's plan for us to be with our families forever, It is the way for us to be happy for eternity! I am so grateful for your good example to me always. You are a great friend and sister:) Tell Cooper I love him very much!
With Love, Emily

Aug 30, 2013 pictures

 Service day at Sister Connor's farm. Found these bunnies while we were pulling weeds.

 New companion from Wyoming, Sister Hansen. She is a twin with three sisters and one brother just like me.

 This is Brother "N" at the branch party we had this week.

This is Brother "P" and his family. The little boy loves the missionaries. He is so fun.