There is no other name given whereby salvation cometh; therefore, I would that ye should take upon you the name of Christ

Dear Sweet Friends of the Earth,

So much happened this week. So much happens every week, but I seriously don't even know where to start.

Tuesday was MLC. My favorite time ever. It was a really powerful council. Learned a lot from the spirit and it was so great to be with President and Sister Mullen. I am one of the "older" sisters in the mission in terms of how long I have been out. Isn't that crazy?? But being in MLC sometimes reminds me of the void still in my heart and in our mission. I miss the West side. My heart still longs to be there some days but I do love Cheney. I know I am supposed to be here and I know someday I'll look back so grateful I stayed over here.

Joel is the best ever. Sister Gardiner and I will sometimes suddenly declare, "oh my heck. I love JOEL!" because we just love him SO much. He always reads and his prayers are so sincere. On Tuesdaywe were super conflicted because we didn't know what else to say to help him feel the spirit but I felt really strongly that we should just read Enos with him. The spirit is the teacher. We are just little pawns that the Lord moves around and the Spirit does it ALL because Joel totally felt the spirit as we read. And he himself said, "I need to struggle more in my prayers. I really need to be praying more sincerely." Like YES! That is what we wanted to say but we didn't even NEED to. He won't admit it but he loves the Book of Mormon. He came to church yesterday and I just about died because he was so precious in his little button up shirt. Some people in our ward have told us that they see him all the time on campus carrying around his Bible and Book of Mormon. Ahh. I love him so much. Keep praying for him because I know he'll get there. He has grown SO much in his faith since we first started meeting with him and he still has concerns about the origins of the and logistical facts of the Book of Mormon. But over time more of what we say resonates with his core beliefs. I just am so excited for the miracles to keep happening with him.

We visited TONS of less-actives this week. That's been a huge part of my mission and I know will be a huge part of my life forever. Because most times people who are less-active don't disagree at all with the doctrine, they just need to be reminded of how the spirit feels. And most times too they just need a good friend. It's always so sweet to help rekindle the fire. I've seen a lot of re-activations on my mission and it is awesome.

Yesterday after church we had Second Sunday Supper which was great for Joel and for our other visitors. Rickia (a recent-convert from the Bahamas) is one of the best missionaries. She is Porche's friend and she was the one who invited her initially. But anyway, Rickia is blind and she met some other blind kids on campus this last weekend and so she wanted us to bring them some dessert with her. It's as easy as that my friends! Take the missionaries with you to bring homemade treats to your friends! So we go to the dorms to drop the treats off and we meet Abby. She is completely blind and from Ethiopia and SO sweet. It worked out so perfectly and we just sat down and started talking to her. Both Sister Gardiner and I are "people" people, so conversations usually are really easy but we really weren't quite sure what to say or how to bring up the gospel and suddenly I had the thought that we needed to sing. It wasn't a loud prompting but it was enough for me just to blurt out, "Can we sing you a hymn?" I have sung many times on my mission but Sister Gardiner and I had never together and she looked up at me wide eyed but it worked. We sang "I'm a Child of God" and then the spirit was there. We said a prayer and she lit up. She asked us to go to her room and pray with her there. Once again the spirit did all the work. The dorms she lives in are traditionally considered 'haunted' and it really freaks her out and sometimes she wakes up in the middle of the night and will turn on Ethiopian Christian music and then pray. She was so touched to have us there. She really felt the spirit. So we are having another lesson on Tuesday and we are SO excited because she is really in tune with spiritual things. Oh the gospel will BLESS her life! Pray for her.

Well, Sister Gardiner and I are very similar but also SO different. We communicate really well though. We are always very open and honest. It feels so liberating each night to talk about our feelings and how we can be better. We talked a lot about how we wear Christ's name and become like him through our actions. I studied my Patriarchal blessing a lot this week reading all about the different Christlike qualities the Lord wants me to develop and strengthen. Lots of growing. You never stop growing on your mission. I love this time of my life SO much.

We are going today to make cookies with Hannah McCombie (our angel from last week) and we are so excited.

I love this gospel. I love opening my mouth to declare repentance. I love My Father in Heaven. The church is SO true!

Hermana Em

Here's some pictures from this week:

All the Sister Training Leaders and Sister Mullen at MLC. I wore a crown of braids. I never wear my hair up. It was a little outside my element. I am trying to step out of my comfort zone in all aspects of life because miracles are just outside your comfort zone. 

Porche and I before she left for TWO months. She says she is getting baptized on August 24th by her California pastor but I think she won't. I'm going to email her all Summer with little scriptures and thoughts and probs when she gets back she'll ASK US if she can get baptized. Keep it in your prayers!

All the Sisters in our district. It's a constant party with Sister Gardiner.

Rickia and us.