Awake, my soul! rejoice, o my heart, and give place no more for the enemy of my soul.

hello hello hello!

Lots going on right now. I don't know if I told you or not but this was a 5 week transfer so it's done and over. What?!??! I've been out 6 months tomorrow. CRAZY how time flies.  Sister Sanchez and I are staying in Spokane Valley! The Lord loves us a lot 'cause we are working hard and seeing good things happen. He trusts us here. And I really feel and know that. Anyway, we went fear busting again this morning. Good fun. 22 SISTERS came into our mission today. Only 6 are visa waiters so that means 16 are staying! And 4 are spanish speaking. SO great. Sometimes I get a little sad that I'm over on this side of the mission and not on the west side with all the other Spanish sisters and maybe I even had the thought late yesterday night, "Did God forget us? Did he skip over Sister Sanchez and I? How come we are here again? In the exact same place with no changes?" I love change. I really do. And change on a mission can be both bad and good. And I was hoping/expecting something different this transfer because that is what I want. What Hermana Emily Judd wants. But God knows best. And He didn't skip over me or Sister Sanchez. Probably just the opposite. Because He has seen how stinkin' hard Sister Sanchez and I have tried to earn the trust of members and meet people to teach. It's a blessing to stay here again because I may get to finally see the fruit of the labors. 

I love the Valley. Yesterday we were driving through a hilly countryside and it was majestic and beautiful and I thought back to before my mission when President Palmer sent me a letter and told me that the Washington Spokane Mission encompassed the lyrics to America the Beautiful: "Oh beautiful for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain, for purple mountain majesties, above the fruited plain!" And it rang true in my heart and I just thought, "How great that I am here. How great it is to be a missionary here." Every missionary has a different experience. No one mission is the same. And mine is so great. Because God knows me. He knows what I need and I am learning all the things I really need to learn.

I'm at a loss for what to tell you about this week. Lots of good things happened. Sister Sanchez and I continually comment about how much we are learning each day. We really help each other to find new things out about the work and ourselves. We've been pretty good about asking members to come to our lessons but this week we made a resolution to ask a member for EVERY lesson. We will do what ever it takes to bring members. There has been this gap where we teach awesome families but they never come to church. And they need fellowship. We've been hesitant to ask our Spanish members because many of them live in Downtown Spokane about 30 minutes away and we only have about 5 members here in the valley and we ask them over and over and over and over. But finally we decided to involve all our members in the branch. Part of the reason missionary work feels so wonderful and great for missioanaries is because it's a sacrifice for us. We sacrifice our time and families and talents to be missionaries. If we allow our members to sacrifice time and gas to come with us, they will feel the joy of the work too. I've seen miracles come from it already. Some days go by and I think, "wow, I really get missionary work now." I didn't know anything my first transfer. Oh man, I was lost. But I really am starting to get somewhere now. And I have a year left of learning.

I was SO excited on Saturday. I knew Hannah and Jacob were going through the temple and it touched my heart all day. I read "Preparing to enter the Holy Temple" during my personal study and I was filled with joy and love of the Lord. The temple is the house of God. There is nothing that testifies more to me that God loves me than the temple and eternal families. I am so grateful to be here serving and still I am able to feel connected and loved by my family. I imagined the scene in heaven where we will reunite and rejoice together to be with our Heavenly Father forever. Is there a sweeter message than that?

I haven't sent pictures in a long time so here's what's going on peeps:

Best Mission!? Hello! Today as we were sharing experiences from our Fear Busting, different missionaries talked about the miracles they saw as they testified of our Savior and fulfilled our purpose and one of the new Elders said, "wow, this is the best mission!" And I know it's true. I love my mission. I love my mission President. This is the best place to be ever.

 This is my district from last transfer. Elder Hobbs, Elder Legarra (my MTC brother! and we are still staying in the branch together. I'm SUPER happy!), Elder Sherwinsky, Elder Molyneaux, Sister Sanchez and me. Good times.

Sister Sanchez and I! I don't think I've sent home a picture of us two. Aren't we the cutest? I really think that because we are both so small, people's hearts are softened to hear from us. Chiquiditas hermanitas!

This is us TODAY. With the sisters we went fear busting with, Sister Wood and Sister Rasmussen.

This is Elder Magana (from Mexico, we came out the same time and he is such a GREAT missionary!) , Elder Whiting (my zone leader here in the English area) , Elder Lohan ( from Great Britain and SUPER funny. He quotes movies in his funny british accent and I love it!)

Love you all so MUCH!

Hermana Em

Day 96: The future is as bright as your faith!

Welp,

Family and friends,

Happy 2013!

 

Our p-day got moved to today since yesterday was New Year's eve and more people were home during the day for us to talk to. This week has been a whirlwind. I can't believe that it's been a week since Christmas. It feels like a month, or more. So much happens just in one day in a mission that a week feels like forever. We got a call on Saturday night that we were moving on Sunday at 5 pm so that's it! I'm not living with the Andersons anymore :( It was all pretty sudden and strange. I still feel weird about living somewhere different. I guess it's prepping me for some more changes coming soon. We get our transfer calls this Sunday evening and I have one of those feelings that I'm leaving. I can't decide if I'm leaving because I want to stay so badly or if I really am leaving. This transfer has been magic. I've loved working with Sister Tippetts and seeing all sorts of miracles. It's been weird too with all the holidays because we've been having a lot of fun, and sometimes I feel like we are having too much fun. I mean we still work all the time and somehow, even with Christmas, we managed to have 30 lessons last week, but I just am anxious to get back into the swing of mission life again. Holidays are so fun, and working during Christmas has been the best ever. But all the excitement takes away from the missionary feeling.

 

Last night, we were allowed to watch a movie for New Year's eve and so we went to the Davis' house. They are the cutest family ever. Sister Davis is the primary president in 6th ward and she's a bundle of energy. They were all so cute and making the biggest deal because this was the one day for the entire year that we could watch a movie. Granted, it was from approved list and we ended up watching "The Best Two Years" but still, it was a lot of fun.

 

I can't believe it's a new year. On January 1, 2012, I wrote in my church journal, "This year I want the Book of Mormon to change my life." At the time, I didn't know I would be leaving to serve a mission, I just knew I needed to improve my scripture study habits and I really wanted to gain a better understanding and love for the Book of Mormon. I couldn't believe it last night, thinking about how much the Book of Mormon really has changed my life. Yesterday, during personal study I didn't want to put the Book of Mormon down. It was so good. It's so fascinating. I started it over at the start of this transfer and I just started Alma yesterday. Every bit of it is true and good and from God. I've been marking with four different colors: Yellow for whenever it mentions Christ, Orange for Christlike attributes, Green for the doctrine of the gospel it teaches, and Pink for words that the Lord is speaking. I feel like this is the first time I've ever truly read the Book of Mormon and applied it to myself, but all of it applies. Everyday I gain new insight and become more enthralled in the story. It's my favorite book I've ever read. It's evidence to me that the Lord loves us. He loves us so much. The Book of Mormon testifies of Christ and teaches us how to follow him. Have faith, have hope, exercise charity, and trust in God. Always trust in God. He will lead us where we need to be, and where we will find the most happiness.

 

My heart is brimming with joy from the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I feel so overwhelmingly blessed by this knowledge and testimony I have. Come what may, what storms may rage, my life has been sweetened by the gospel. Every family we teach has faced so many hardships and they just don't know where to turn for peace. That's what we offer to people: hope and trust in our Savior, Jesus Christ.

 

Yesterday, we had a church tour with Christi Brittain and her daughter Kelsey. It was a miracle we found them. Christi is a less active who lives a in a trailer park way outside of town. We never go over to that area because the owner has kicked us out a few times. But we went to go find a referral and we ended up knocking on her door. I guess her records weren't in the ward because she hasn't been in years and no one knew she moved to a trailer park. But we found her because she was searching for truth. She came on the tour and right at the beginning she said she felt like crying because it just felt so peaceful in the church. All she wants is peace and happiness and she knows she isn't finding it right now. It was a really great tour and at the end we asked her daughter to give the prayer. She said she couldn't remember how praying even went so we helped her out with the start and then she said the most sincer and heartfelt prayer I've heard on my mission. She asked for guidance and direction and help to come back to church. I just felt the spirit confirm to me that Kelsey is a daughter of God. Maybe she's made a few wrong choices and gone down the wrong path, but she was back in the church, in the House of the Lord and that's where He wanted her because he loves her. After her prayer she said she felt butterflies, she just felt so good. It was a really sweet experience. She's going to start going to the YSA ward and I kept thinking about Alma the Younger. Of course, that's where I'm reading in the Book of Mormon, but his story always comes to my mind as I think about the changes some of the people we teach have to make. For some, it means changing every aspect of their live. It's hard. Change is hard. But then I remember how sweet the joy was for Alma the Younger as he left his life of sin behind and repented and healed his heart. I know it's the same for anyone else. The Atonement can change anyone's life. The Savior always has His arms out open. Over and over I think to myself, "Off to the rescue I'll hasten, bringing them back to His fold."

 

I really wish I could stay in Moses Lake to see Lorena and Daniel get baptized. Lorena is a lady we tracted into a few days before Christmas. We asked to share the Luke 2 story of Christ's birth and then we led into the Restoration. She soaked it all up and we've been back nearly everday to teach her. She is so excited to be baptized on February 2nd and she has been reading and loving the Book of Mormon. I've never taught anyone like her. She is so prepared, so ready for the gospel in her life. I know I will just rejoice to even hear about her baptism but I wish I could be here to see it. We kept going back and back to the trailer park she lived in and tracting on different trailers. I knew there must be a reason we kept going back there. There was someone we were supposed to find and we hadn't found them yet. When we knocked on her door I knew. She was who we were looking for.

 

Sister Tippetts says that the entire year you are on your mission is called a "black year". Yesterday was the end of hers and today is the start of mine. It's true. I won't know any other life than missionary life for the whole year of 2013. We talk about changes all the time. For me, I don't see a lot of the changes I'm making everyday, but then looking back over time, I see how much I've grown, how much I've learned and know. I love serving a mission so much. We've been taking out a lot of the laurels and YSA girls preparing to serve missions and so many moms and leaders have come up to us to say how wonderful that experience was for their duaghters. It always makes me laugh because for us, it's just another day in the mission. More than likely, appointments fall through and we're just flying by the seat of our pants during the day. But these sweet girls feel the spirit, they expereience the magic of sharing the gospel with people who truly need it and they taste the joy of a mission. We feel the spirit so abundantly in our mission lives that sometimes I can't quite tell the difference from the everyday to something special. It's a feeling that I can't quite explain but I don't want to ever go home to have it leave. Being one of the Lord's servants, on His side of the work is remarkable.

 

I know this gospel is true and I love laboring beside my Savior in His vineyards everyday.

 

Love you all so much! But really.

 

Love,

Hermanita Em