And thus the work of the Lord did commence; thus the Lord did begin to pour out his Spirit upon them

Howdy y'all!

What a beautiful time to be a missionary. I love it the most, the most!

My life has come full circle. Yesterday was Stake Conference in the West Stake and I was there LAST YEAR for the same stake conference. I mean. I've been serving in this Stake for a full year without breaks! So crazy! I remember sitting in the audience last year thinking "this Stake President sure seems missionary minded" because all the messages were so focused and purposeful. And now, after a year full of experiences with President McCombie I just feel so full of love and gratitude. He's incredible! Every session of conference was inspired and beautiful. I think it's church wide that youth are invited now to the adult session and that rocks. And I think the theme church wide is "hastening the work." which totally includes the youth because they are the most courageous missionaries! In the Saturday session they had a youth choir but they were a little worried that there weren't enough voices so they asked the missionaries to join in so we got to sit on the stand, right behind my bffs, President and Sister Mullen. Looking over the congregation I seriously felt like Ammon when he reunites with his old pal, Alma.

 17 Now the ^ajoy of Ammon was so great even that he was full; yea, he was swallowed up in the joy of his God, even to the ^bexhausting of his strength; and he fell ^cagain to the earth.

 18 Now was not this ^aexceeding joy? Behold, this is joy which none receiveth save it be the truly penitent and humble seeker of^bhappiness.

I love these sweet, farmer folk. They are good and kind and I just love 'em. The West Stake is mine, forever. And because we cover the whole stake for Spanish work and because I served in Cheney for 6 months, I really have come to know so many people. Before the Saturday meeting we had a soup and bread dinner and we could hardly sit down to eat because people were stopping to talk and say hello to us. It just feels nice to be loved and appreciated. 

President McCombie made both the Saturday and Sunday sessions interactive. He had people write down their impressions, share with their neighbor and then he put mikes out in the audience so people could stand up and share what they were going to change and do differently. It was a really great learning experience. And so many beautiful insights for missionary work. I just feel excited to follow up with the different families in the stake to help them keep the fire.

One sister missionary in our stake was asked to bear her testimony and she said, "they will have to drag me out of here to get me home, but among the the two things i'm looking forward to most about going home are my family and being a member missionary." Can I just say, "amen!" I love my full time missionary status and I love my badge and the confidence it gives me and I love the miracles and the growth and everything. I LOVE being a missionary. But I'm grateful that in the Lord's wisdom, He let me go at the beginning of my life to experience and learn all these things because I want to forever more apply them and lead a life of service and love and I want to focus on inviting people to Christ ALL my life. That has changed about me. Of all the things, my perspective has changed and my motives are different. This is the work and glory of God and it matters most. 

We found someone new! Lauro! He was a semi-referral from some cutie cute members in the Spokane 1st ward. They are managers of an apartment complex and they told us about him but then they glumly told us that we weren't allowed to proselyte in the complex but that they would continue to invite him to activities and talk to him about church if he ever brought it up. But their little six year old chamaco hinted that he shared walls with other members, the Stringhams, in the complex. And so one night we were driving around, heading to try some members and I thought, "we should visit the Stringhams." because sister Stringham speaks Spanish and she could become his friend and SHE could invite him or something. So we went. And then as we were leaving I just thought, "ah heck. this is God's work. "no proselyting" or not, I'm knocking it" and Lauro answered and just loved us! We have been focusing on using the Book of Mormon in our street contacts and now it's all I use because the Book of Mormon just carries the Spirit and can teach way better than I can! So anyway, we introduced the Book of Mormon and taught the whole restoration on his doorstep and he just kept joking and loving it. Le cayemos muy bien! Y el nos cae muy bien tambien :)

But the lesson I really learned is that God knows me. Because I had been wondering if I receive promptings or if I follow them well enough as a missionary and then, he prompted me and I acted. As if He was telling me, "I do trust you, little one."

Anyway, we received 8 referrals this week! I mean it's like crazy! We'll find this family the Condons trust us to find. I know it!

Con todo mi amor,

Hermana Em

pictures

this is from our last zone training like beginning of january.

sister walton, sister kunkel, and i. this was the day i was throwing up so i just look lovely, i know.

sister gifford, sister kennach (who is samoan and from temple square and she was SO excited about jacob serving in a samoan ward)

sister walton's mom sent us matching pjs for christmas. we wear them every day. we've also been told by 10 people now that we look like sisters. what the crazy??

 it's been snowy all week. like everyday it snows more. ALL my life (and even last year here in washington) i've only ever seen it snow one day and then stop and then another random day and stop. but it snowed like 4 days in a row here. and then there was sunshine. so fun!

so here's a bunch of shots of sister walton and i, and our roomates a cute little bridge by our house. 

k all my pictures. the snowy pictures are fresh from today. so you can have an almost real time idea of what i look like and what i'm wearing. seasonably fashionable enough for y'all? :)  jsyk i took my coat off for the pictures! 

Now was not this exceeding joy? Behold, this is joy which none receiveth save it be the truly penitent and humble seeker of happiness.

Hola chamacos!

The good thing about Spokane Valley is that it is beautiful! Majestic, tall pine trees frame every house. Yesterday all the snow melted, and though it was still pretty chilly, there was a glimpse of springtime. And I can tell that springtime will be glorious. I've decided though that it really doesn't matter where you serve. The location is relative. It's really all about the people. Wherever you go, there will be people to love and people to pray for. That's what matters to me at least. And the more people I get to know in Spokane Valley the more I really do love it here. 

My spanish branch and english ward here are in two different stakes even though the spanish branch area covers ALL of Spokane Valley. We cover all the way to Post Falls, Idaho! I don't know how often we'll get out there though 'cause there isn't too much of a spanish-speaking population. One of these days we'll make a trip out there. I'm sorry I haven't taken a lot of pictures lately. It's been a longer week for me. 

Yesterday we had stake conference in the Spanish branch stake. It was perfect. Just an answer to my prayers. It was all about missionary work, like everything is these days. President Mullen and Sister Mullen were there-which it's always a wonderful privilege to hear from them. Sister Mullen said a lot of things that motivated me. She describes this opportunity to serve as the "honor of her life". I feel that way too. I've felt less so this last week, but I do feel like serving this mission means everything to me. It's not a lot of sacrifice and in the grand scheme of things I know I'll look back and realize there hardly was any sacrifice at all, but it has given me a new perspective on every aspect of my life. We had exchanges this last week. Here in the valley everybody works a little closer together so I was still technically covering my Spanish area while on exchanges. We met this member, an older, single sister who has lived in her apartment complex for quite awhile. She served a mission many moons ago in good 'ol Dallas, Texas, Spanish speaking. She is the kind of member missionary I want to be. She lives the gospel of Jesus Christ and she shares her testimony with everyone. She noticed that one of her Doctors was Greek, his last name was Contras or something, and she she asked him about family history. She finally persuaded him to allow her to do some family history work for him even though he didn't think she would find anything. She searched and prayed and searched and found a lot for his mother's line. She printed it all out and put it in a nice binder for him and then left a note that said, "I believe the family unit is essential to God's plan." which is brilliant and true and wonderful. She said he was a pretty straight-laced guy who hardly smiled but at her last appointment he told her how much that meant to him and to his mother. I just thought that was such a great story.

I want to live in a such a way after my mission that I share my testimony with everyone, all my neighbors, and colleagues and my children's school teachers. At our training last week, one of the Brothers asked us who we know that is not baptized. And then to imagine the Celestial Kingdom without that person. I've been thinking a lot about it still. 

Sister Sanchez is really, super great. We are great friends, she says. And we are. We are just two little Hermanitas running around talking to everyone. (to my mom: we are like the same size but she's got really skinny legs like grandma! I tell ya, why didn't i get these skinny Mexican legs??) We speak the same level of each other's language. Which means she speaks pretty good English and I speak pretty good Spanish. 

We eat with members a lot more here I think, actually. We eat lunch and dinner on the weekends with members. During the week we still make our own meals, but it's better that way. Because they make goooood food here. I've mostly had a lot of posole and other taco, chicken, rice and beans stuff. Nothing I've had has been bad. That's the nice thing about being in the US because I know where the food comes from. Did I tell you that I'm addicted to rice pudding now? It started my first transfer after Ana and Walter made some for us and then the next night when Claudia and Genaro had some little store bought rice pudding cups. Then I decided to buy some for myself and I've probably had one every night since. True story.

I love you all. The gospel is true. Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer. God is our Father in Heaven and He loves us and knows us so well. 

I'm sure there is more I wanted to tell you. 

Con amor,

Hermanita Em

***Dear Readers, I was able to quickly email Sister Judd right after she sent her letter, and asked for an account of her new area and investigators.  So here is a little bonus:

On Wednesday, we tracted long hours, hoping to talk to everyone. The standard of excellence for QGCs is 20, remember? And it's actually a lot harder than it seems. It was around 7:45 and we still had about 5 left for the day. We stopped by to see a less-active guy who turned out to be awesome. He pays his tithing each week and he knows it is all true. He's just not wanted to go to church for awhile. Crazy. We are reading the Book of Mormon with him this week so maybe he'll come around! Anyway, he pointed us to some of his neighbors for us to try so we went and knocked around some more. And we did it! We hit the 20 mark! And then as soon as we did it, the Lord handed us a little blessing. It was as if He was saying, "Here you go, my sweet daughters, after all your labor today, here is someone who wants to listen." And so the very next door we knocked was a young-ish mom who let us right in. She was happy and willing to listen and she accepted another day for a church tour. (Of course, the church tour was while I was away on exchanges, but I heard that she was sitting, parked in her car, with all her kids buckled and ready to go when they passed by to take her to the church). If she is the only miracle we see all transfer, that will be enough. But I have a feeling the Lord has more up His sleeve.

He always does.

That's all I've got for ya. We are teaching a less-active from Uruguay and I love her so much. She says all her "y's" like sha. Loveeee it. "sho me shamo rosa"  :)