A Marvelous Work and A Wonder

Oh my family! Well here we are: my last e-mail. We had a wonderful week. Wonderful! We found a couple of new potentials that seem really good. Sister Cooprider is staying in this area still and training. I'm excited for them as they have many new people that we have set appointments with them to teach. It's weird to know I won't be a part of that, but it's alright...I guess! We had our two wonderful baptisms this weekend of Jenny and Ashley! It went really really well and was just a really nice day for them. I think it was really great for their Dad too. I know eventually he will have the desire and he will receive an answer that he needs to be baptized.

There are so many changes I feel coming up in the mission and coming up in these areas. It just makes you want to be here for all of it! But I suppose it always feels like things are changing and great things are about to happen when you're about to leave! But it has been so amazing and wonderful to see the progress that has happened in the Anaheim 2nd ward and the Anaheim 7th branch. They're starting to really get missionary work.  They've improved so much in fellowshipping both investigators, recent converts and less actives are so much better.  We don't have to worry as much about people being lost. Nicole is doing so well, and everyone has been so welcoming to her. I know that Sister Cooprider has learned a lot in the last little while too, especially in being bolder, and I know she will continue to see so many miracles here.

Last week we, Sister Brown, President and Sister Watrous and I, went to the temple and that was wonderful!. Last February we went to the temple and all wrote little letters-to ourselves sort of, about what kind of mission we wanted to have, and what we wanted to do and were going to learn. And then we were given those back while we were at the temple, so we could read them again. It was interesting, it doesn't feel like too long ago, but I know that I've (hopefully) grown since then. But it's still pretty odd to read the things that I said then, and to even see at that point how I had grown; I'm not sure how, but it seems like it. Our mission conference was really great. But geez, it's sort of unfair to have an inspiring mission conference right before you leave! Sang "Called to Serve" for the last time. Weird! Saturday morning I had my last interview with President. He renews our temple recommends, and then goes over all the info that mission presidents are supposed to say I guess. And he added in his own advice, and then he gives us a blessing. He's just such a great man. He is super humble and obedient and faithful. He really has been an amazing example for all the missionaries.

Today we're teaching one last lesson. Well, one last lesson for me with Raichel Goodyear. Remember I mentioned her once? She was golden, and sooo ready and we passed her onto some elders in another singles ward. Well, long story, she's back to being taught be us. We haven't seen her since September, and she wanted to be taught today. Fine by me! I'll do my last baptismal invitation as a missionary! I am so excited!

Well, I'll just say it. I LOVE being a missionary! It's been the best 18 months! And even though I really don't know what to expect after this, and I am a little anxious, I'm excited to see how life is just going to keep getting better. You know, I'm pretty lucky. I really am. I feel like I am blessed just over and over and over again and every year is better than the last! It's amazing to see how you really do become a missionary. Not just doing missionary things, but being a missionary. I'm so grateful for the things I've experienced and learned. Irreplaceable! My testimony of the gospel has just grown sooo much deeper. I have learned how to study the scriptures, to feast upon them! To love them! And I expect it to continue! If there's been a theme to what I've learned on the mission and what I've tried to teach others, it's love. It is the love our Heavenly Father has for us, and how everything he does is for our happiness. We just have to recognize it and act on it. I LOVE being a missionary! I am excited to see all of my little family again! I love you all so much and thank you so much for everything you've done for me! The love, the prayers, the letters! I love you! See you soon! Ah!

Love,
Emily

Sprinting to the End

Michael, Kiara, and Cathy

Nicole, Sisters Sanders & Cooprider                                                  Sister Sanders &  Cooprider      

                                                                                                               Michael, Kiara, Cathy

 Exchanges

Hi all family! This is your second to last e-mail from me! We had a great and busy week!

So Nicole was baptized on Wednesday. Everything was ready and people were getting there, but there was no Nicole for a while. Nicole comes to everything early. Church doesn't start until 11:00 and she gets there at 10:00. She wanted to be at the baptism an hour early, but we told her 6:30. When it was about 7:00 we were a little worried. Sister Cooprider and I ended up saying a little prayer together outside, and 40 seconds later, in walks Nicole and her husband and her mom. Yeah! Miracles! She was sooo nervous, and just shaking. When she saw all the people who showed up, she told us to tell them all to go home. Nope! But everything went perfectly. And once she was baptized, she was so happy. It's really good. And Sunday bishop confirmed her and it was really nice. And her husband came to church for it. So who knows, hopefully we can begin working with him.

Saturday is the Lopez's baptisms. Now they were there an hour early. Again, everything went perfectly. The ward really came out and supported both of these baptisms. The kids sang “I am a Child of God" at their baptism, and it was fantastic! It was just really really nice. And Sunday our ward mission leader confirmed them, and their dad stood in the circle, so that's good. It was a good Sunday with 4 confirmations, and the primary program. Yeah!

Let's see, what else. Um, we did exchanges on Thursday and I went to the Tongan area. Got to see what I missed by not speaking a Polynesian language. Malo lei lei! Fefehake. Saipe. I can do that much. It's always really great to have an opportunity to learn from a different missionary, to see how they work. Definitely I still have things I could improve. I still have a little more to improve.

This weekend is the Lucero's baptism. Good thing. It just needs to happen. And really we are just trying to find some new investigators, to keep the work going! This week should be really great, we also have a mission conference on Thursday where Elder Foster, one of the seventy is speaking to us, then Friday I go to the temple with S. Brown (I think the only other departing missionary, MTC reunion for us!) and President and Sister Watrous, then Saturday is my departing interview. Get all the good advice from President.

So that's all! Congratulations to Ashleigh on being baptized! I was thinking about you on Saturday and knowing you were being baptized too! Love you all and hope you have a wonderful week!

Love,
Emily

Marine Layers

Good afternoon (evening to some of you) my family! How is everyone? Well, everything is just grand here in Anaheim! I've heard all about the Philadelphia visit. Sounds like it was a fantastic time! Baby Yoda, cleaning carpets, doctor's appointments, and autumn back east. I'm jealous. Some of the trees here change colors. Not too much though. We're still having pretty amazing weather and I know I will miss it!

Well for Halloween we didn't do anything different. Just worked! And then we had chili with some Young Single Adults before they had a party. Hey mom, I remember how you made chili one year at Halloween, and you wouldn't let me go out until I ate some. In WA I think. Remember? Anyway

Friday night was interesting. We had an appointment to see Cesar. Now Cesar, he's a little different. He's not 100% there. He is, but he isn't. He gets everything we teach him, he understands the reading, and he speaks normal. But something's different. So when we get there, he's in a really bad mood. Apparently he had dropped his cell phone and cracked the screen and so he can't call anyone, and he wasn't able to receive calls, and felt cut off from the world. He wasn't in the mood to pray or to read or do anything. And no amount of our being patient and helping him think through his options would help. We had brought a Young Single Adult with us (Tracy), who is awesome and always comes with us, and she is so relaxed, very CA. She finally somehow distracted him by planning to meet him the next day and talking him to the stake center to do family history. He doesn't know who his parents are and doesn't even know if they're alive, so he wants to look them up. Oh, I was so grateful. I was getting so frustrated. I think I hide it well though. But seriously, he was just so upset that he wasn't seeing how it could be better, and he was just difficult. And I could only think that I don't know how I'm ever going to be able to be a mother if I have children that are stubborn like that. Huh mom? I just wanted to drop him right there! We all laughed about it though when we got out of the car.

On Sunday, our branch mission leader went to pick him up for church, and decided to have a little chat with him. Or in his own words he "interrogated" Cesar. And he decided Cesar wasn't ready to be baptized and told our branch president. We were so upset about it. It's all alright now, we've talked to Cesar again, and we'll just have to talk to our lame branch mission leader and reset the date. We're thinking November 15. He's accountable, he understands, and he wants to be baptized and is worthy. Who are we to not let him be baptized?

Nicole is doing really well. Her baptism is tonight at 7:00pm. The ward kept asking us why we are doing it during the week, and we said because we hoped it would deter some people from coming. Odd reason, we know. But Nicole's a nervous personality. And as it is, we know that a lot of people will still come, and she'll be happy with it. It will work. We're really excited for her.

Yesterday when we met with her she had a little breakdown because she's so stressed. Her mom has been driving her crazy, and she's sad that her husband smokes;-she fasted on Sunday for him to be able to stop-plus, they don't always get along. And it's hard, because she just feels alone, and even S. Cooprider is not always the most sensitive to Nicole. She's not very good at controlling facial expressions, and people notice. So Nicole was crying yesterday and I felt so bad for her. Sometimes there's only so much you can do. Unfortunately she's pretty attached to me, and I'm just hoping she doesn't have another breakdown when I leave. Ah! But all will be perfect with the baptism tonight!

And Saturday we have the baptism of the Lopez kids-Cathy, Kiara and Michael. Yeah! They're the best behaved little kids and just excited. So that's that! And the Lucero's are still a go for Nov. 14.

Last week we also did a couple of splits. It was so interesting because the last time I did splits, I was in a threesome, and I was with the other companion. It's so odd to not be with your companion for a while. It just feels wrong. But the appointments went really well. We visited a Hispanic family in the ward. The parents are from Mexico, and speak English, and the boys (should) go to the YSA branch. But they don't. One's an RM, and one needs to go on a mission. so we're trying to activate the boys, Bethuel and Yobel Montanez. And I went with a girl from the ward that’s going on a mission in a couple of months, and we visited this other less active family, the Chutes. They always cancel our appointments, so they frustrate us. But Jenny, the member, knows them really well, so it was a really good appointment. That's another reason why members are so invaluable in appointments-they give you another connection to the less actives you visit. It really helps! Also last week, we had a Hungarian dinner cooked by the Hungarian roommate of one of our less actives. He's a funny guy. And then another day we had Danish food cooked by the 2 Danish girls staying with one of the counselors in the branch presidency. But the funny thing was their Danish dinner was Mexican food. They said it's the way they do Mexican food in Denmark. Pretty much the same as we do it here. Also, we had our president's interviews last week. It was wonderful!

And that was the week! Pretty busy and amazing week! I love it! Everything is just fantastic and I'm still sprinting! I hope everyone is staying healthy. No swine flu! I love you all so much! Thanks for being my family!

Love,
Emily

Assyrian Babylonians!

Hello family! Well, it’s the halfway point of the transfer. Things are still excellent here! I love California. Seriously. It’s funny how a place becomes your home. I definitely will miss it here. I just love the people and the palm trees and the sunny days and everything else. It still is weird, but this is definitely the place where I needed to be! Who would’ve thought?Let’s see, an update on people.

The Luceros are doing great. For the last week and a half we had planned to read in the introduction to the Book of Mormon with them, and then get Brother Lucero (non member) to pray right then, with us, and then we were going to ask him to be baptized. This is what President Watrous wants us to do with everyone when we first teach them. And even though B. Lucero has been taught for a long time, we wanted to do it with him anyway. And it went really well. The spirit was definitely there, and we asked him to be baptized. He said he wasn’t ready. We pretty much expected that. But we had to ask. That’s what missionaries do! But for the next little bit that we were there talking to the girls about their baptisms, and when we left, he definitely looked like he was thinking really hard. Good! Who knows?The Lopez family is also doing great. Everything’s set to finish up the last couple of lessons and get their program together. And after saying it over and over again, we finally feel like people are starting to fellowship them in the ward. Good!

Raven’s good. 'We are still teaching him. Also still teaching Cesar and getting him ready for baptism. We found out he smokes but just because he’s bored. He said that the addictive properties don’t affect him, and he can completely stop whenever he wants. Alrighty, we’ll see. Cesar understands and remembers everything we teach, but he definitely still has some kind of disability. We don’t know what though. When we started talking about prophets and asked him why it would be good to listen to a prophet he said “because it’s a straight shot to the celestial kingdom.” True, true. We were glad he remembered the lesson about the Plan of Salvation a couple of days earlier! He also asked us if after the resurrection, if the pre-earth life would be destroyed-because there “would be no need for it.” Interesting, I’ve never thought about that one before. This is why it’s great talking to all the odd people we teach, because their perspectives are so different, and their questions are so much fun. I love it!

On Saturday we went to teach Nicole. Oh man. That morning she called and asked me if it was okay that she was already wearing her Halloween costume-because that night was our ward activity and she was going to it. I said that was fine. She said she should’ve called the night before to check with us and she was sorry. But I said its okay, you can be wearing it. She said she just wants to respect us and she’s sorry and blah blah. Really, Nicole is one of the most interesting characters ever. I will try my best to do an impression of her someday. We brought one of our ward missionaries with us to the appointment and when we opened the door, there she was, Snow White! The thing is, Nicole is very small, thin, super pale, black short hair, and always wears red or pink lipstick. So her doing Snow White makes sense. Yet she still wore a wig and oh wow, she looked pretty funny. It was so hard not to be distracted and look at each other and laugh. There she is sitting on the couch as snow white as we talked to her about prophets. Then there’s a knock on the door. Nicole freaks out and doesn’t want to answer it. That’s normal. She asks us if she should answer it. We say yes. She doesn’t want to because she thinks it’s her mom. Then you hear someone say something through the door, and Nicole’s 2 year old son George goes “Grandma!” So Nicole lets them in. It’s her mom and her grandma. We have never met them, and we’ve always been curious about Nicole’s mom. Nicole swears her mom doesn’t love her. Her mom is in these little black stretch pants and leopard print shirt and sweeps into the home and is like “oh Nicole, oh I’m sorry, I didn’t know you had company, oh George! Oh Nicole, have you eaten..blah blah blah.” She was very dramatic and funny and came in with pizza and gave us all pizza as she talked the entire time and kept moving around, doing Nicole’s dishes, and cleaning her house and, well it was pretty hilarious to us, even though Nicole was distressed. I asked her mom where she was from and she said “Oh, we’re Assyrian Babylonian. We’re east Catholic, Nicole was baptized as a child…” and Nicole is going “Mother, please, Mother. you weren’t supposed to come until later. Mother…” Very funny. So apparently her family is from Iran. Who knew? Assyrian Babylonian. That’s a first from me. I guess I’m wrong, but I sure thought the Assyrian and Babylonian empire were destroyed a long time ago. Pretty much her mom is not what we expected. She is just a flashy/dramatic/nagging mom. And as she was doing her dishes, our member said she wishes her mom would come over and do her dishes at her house and Nicole pipes up and offers to come over and do her dishes for her. It was one of the best teaching appointments I’ve had: Snow white and her mom.That’s probably the best story of the week.

There are always lots of good stories. This week we should be pretty busy too. We have to go on splits a couple of times, and that should be crazy. Good to be busy! We’re just trying to find those new investigators, so that after these people are baptized, there will still be people to teach.

Just in case you were wondering what we’re doing here on Halloween…well, we’re doing normal missionary work! Last year we were supposed to be in the apartment at 6:00pm, studying, if we didn’t already have set appointments to go to. But this year we are to be out working as usual! So we’ll be doing that. Trick or treat, we brought you the Book of Mormon! And today we will be carving pumpkins as a district to celebrate!I can’t believe how time is flying. Everyday I love being a missionary more and more! It’s crazy! It’s odd and feels a little, uh, scary, to think I won’t be doing this much longer. So I try not to think about it! We’re still sprinting! I love you all so much!

Love,Emily

Beginning of the End

Sister Sanders where? Oh yes, a soccer store.

My family! Alright, I’m “sprinting to the end” as President Watrous advises us missionaries with poquito tiempo. I’ve joked with S. Cooprider that we are going to skip lunch and dinner and work straight from 11-9. It’s sort of our joke, but some days it has felt like its true. And it’s a blessing to have so much to do! Everything is going really really well. I don’t want to jinx it! It’s so wonderful to look back over the last 8 weeks in this area, and see that our numbers have continually gone up!

Last week we had zone conference (my last, AH!) and it was pretty good. It was even raining that day-a miracle I say! We talked a lot about how to better introduce the Book of Mormon to people to “place it in their hearts” and help them begin to receive a testimony of it. I love it! Speaking of the Book of Mormon, for an update on my goal to read it all this last transfer…uh, its slow going. I’ve slowed down in Mosiah as I’ve decided to once and for all figure out the chronology and all the connections of the Book of Mormon. But hey, I’m still pushing to meet the goal! It was weird at zone conference to see all of these “new” missionaries, training new missionaries. Elders I’ve never seen in my life. Odd to think I will never serve with any of them. It was funny as some elders came up to me afterwards and were shocked that I was already going home. Especially ones that I came out with. It just reminds them of how much time they have left, or don’t have left! It’s all too crazy!

Here are some updates on our teaching pool:

The Luceros, Jenny and Ashley, are still getting baptized on Nov. 14, and their two previous elders are coming to baptize them. Sister Lucero is turning it into a Hispanic fiesta. Decorating tables and putting out balloons and party favors for her little comida after the baptism. We try to tell her that we need to focus on the baptism, and she understands, but she’s also been waiting a long time for this day and she’s going to festijar! Porque no? Yesterday when we taught the family, we were going to invite Dad to be baptized on the same day, but they ended up having visitors over and we had like 10 minutes to actually teach. So this week we will invite him. It should be interesting. In the beginning of September when we started teaching the Luceros again, Hermana said “don’t push my husband to be baptized.” Thing is, we’re missionaries, and it’s our responsibility to invite! If he says no, at least we know, and we don’t need to focus on him being an investigator. This way we know we’re done our part. But, he’s been coming to church, asking questions, and doing his reading. These are encouraging signs. Yeah baptisms!

The Lopez family are still good. We weren’t able to teach them last week. But as far as we know, we’re still on for Nov. 7. So that’s Kiara, Cathy and Michael who will be baptized. Funny, we realized that Michael’s b-day is Nov. 11, and if we waited a couple extra days, he would be a convert baptism too. But we don’t want to wait! So we continue to pray that all works out for dad to get his work off and everyone to be healthy (someone’s always getting sick there). In fact, Michael just had his interview for baptism with the bishop yesterday, so things are on schedule!

Nicole: after lots of thinking about her, last week Sister Cooprider and I talked about it and decided that she just needs to be baptized. That she wants to, and we’re teaching her, and she’s keeping commitments. She doesn’t understand everything, and she is kind of like a little kid who you have to have A LOT of patience with, but it’s not for us to hold her back from being baptized. So we’ve changed her date to Nov. 4, and we’re working towards that. She’s nervous about it all, because it’s new, but again, this way we know we’re doing all we can on our part, and if we’ve prepared her well, and she passes the interview, then she can have the Holy Ghost finally, which is what she needs to help her. And, we’re working on getting the ward really on board with it, because she needs a lot of support. If I hadn’t learned some degree of patience on my mission up to this point, then I’ve learned it with Nicole! Even when she drives us crazy, it’s always comes back so fast to me, that she’s a daughter of God. And somehow I can’t help but what to help her and love her. Yeah baptism!

Anaheim California Sister Missionaries

Raven. is still doing well. We continue to teach him once a week and he’s doing all of his reading. Yesterday he had some community service he had to do, so he missed church. But that’s the first time since I’ve been here that he hasn’t come. The branch has been absolutely amazing at fellowshipping him. They keep coming to appointments and helping him understand. It will be an easy transition for him to eventually have different missionaries, because really he can rely on the branch.

And there is Jose Barajas. We met him the week before last and set a baptismal date with him. We’ve taught him 3 times, but he hasn’t come to church yet. The lessons go really well. He has some doubts/questions concerning our not praying to saints or to the Virgin Mary. Since that’s his culture, it’s hard to give up. I don’t know though. He’s not progressing a lot. We’ll see what happens this week and see if he has the desire to find out if the gospel and church are true.

Caesar Castillo. He requested a Book of Mormon and Bible online, and since he’s in the other sister’s area, they brought him the Book of Mormon. But since he’s YSA age, they passed him to us. We taught him the Restoration, talked about the Book of Mormon, and invited him to be baptized Nov. 8. He accepted. He lives in some type of boarding house. We’re not sure. He’s a little bit slower. But he understood all the things we talked about and remembered all of his reading-which is more than Nicole! And Tracy-one of the YSA girls that we teach, came with us to the appointment, and volunteered to pick him up for church. So he was there yesterday, and it was wonderful!

And we visited a lot of other people this last week! We hadn’t seen Lisa Ruiz (inactive YSA) for awhile, but made contact yesterday. That was good. And one day coming into our apartment, we met this Asian girl who said she’s a member, but inactive. Alva Lee. She lives across the hall from us. Funny. So we visited her. She hasn’t been to church for years and years. She joined the church in Taiwan with her family, lived in Seattle for years, and just moved her, and was thinking about coming back to church. She said "its “lucky” that she met us." Now she should be coming to church! And we are teaching this other crazy YSA names Jennifer Cogburn. She’s divorced and has a little boy, and now lives with her parents. She splits her time between the YSA branch and the family ward her parents are in, and she’s trying to get to the temple. Her bishop asked her to take the missionary lessons from the elders in her ward. They’ve been teaching her for a while, but she’s a strong personality, and one of the elders is pretty honest too, and they clashed. So after apparently kicking them out of her house, she asked if we’d teach her. Oh hooray! She talks soooo much and has some doubts about prophets and different things. It looks like it will take some time to really help her. We’re also teaching this 16 year old girl in the ward whose family is inactive. Shannon. She recently came back to the church. We taught her the Restoration last night and she has a hard time believing any of it. Odd. She comes to church by herself and goes to early morning seminary-I guess because she feels like these things keep her on the right path, and keep her away from drugs and alcohol that used to be a problem for her. But otherwise she feels like we create religion and these stories to help us. Ah! Sometimes it’s hard for me to get people like that. Because sometimes I have questions too, and I wonder about stuff. But in the end, I realize that it doesn’t matter, and I know that the gospel is true, so the questions can leave my mind. Why do some people have to feel like they’re so intellectual and philosophical, using fancy words and questioning everything. I’m pretty sure it doesn’t make them feel better. Oh well. Hopefully we can go slow and help her. She apparently doesn’t like commitment, so she wouldn’t even agree to pray this week. She said she’s “try.” If we can get her to create some good habits, then I’ll feel good about it.

Hermana Fatkin and Hermana Sanders

So that’s the week! Lots of stuff. The rest of the transfer looks crazy busy. Which is good, except that makes time tend to move faster! No me gusta eso!

Thank you all for the e-mails and the prayers and all of your love! I love you all!

Love,
Emily

Baptism!

Sisters Patten, Fatkin and Sanders
Mission President's house
July 2009

Buenos dias familia!

We had a great start to a new transfer this last week! We have some new people to teach and we’re pretty excited! The family ward has finally made contact with some of the people that ward council has been talking about having us teach them.. Sometimes it takes a while to get the process going. We didn’t teach any of the people yet, but it’s great that the work is moving forward, and we have some appointments set for this week. Mom, that’s crazy that Minnesota was one of the last states to learn about this process and get it going. I suppose we didn’t start it until around the new year, but I remember learning what it was all about, this time last year. It really is an inspired idea, and really helps missionaries have more people to teach. I hope that your missionaries find more opportunities to teach. If you’re not teaching as a missionary, it’s easy to feel like you’re not really making a difference or doing what you were called to do. But they’ll be okay, as long as they’re obedient and working.

MTC District

We knocked quite a bit last week: early in the day, in the afternoon, at dinnertime, and later on at night. Nobody let us in to teach. But we met a couple of people that said we could come back. So we’re going back! The first week of last transfer we knocked into this woman who was very nice, and had just had a baby like 2 days before, so it wasn’t a good time. And we kept thinking we needed to check on her again. So last week we did, and ended up meeting her brother-in-law (all the family live together). She told us we could come back the next day at the same time, but when we came back she wasn’t there, and he was. We didn’t think he was going to be available at that time, so we hadn’t planned ahead to have another girl with us. But the next day we came back with someone and taught him the Restoration. It went really well. He was a little hesitant to accept all of these things that seemed new and different, but he accepted a baptismal date. His name is Jose, and he’d be in the singles branch. Unfortunately he didn’t make it to church-because it’s football season. We’ll keep working with him.

Hermanas Chriswell, Sanders and Brown

We also have another potential young single adult investigator. The other sisters in our district are teaching this girl who was introduced to the church by a coworker. And because this girl is the young single adult age, the sisters are going to pass her to us, and she has a baptismal date too. Wow!

The best news though is about the Lopez family;. I don’t remember if I’ve mentioned them. They moved into this ward in the spring and were sort of inactive then. The Mom is member, the Dad is a recent convert, and together they have 5 kids, 4 age eight and up. And only one has been baptized. So they are a family that is part of this process where they were invited by the ward to be taught by the missionaries. It’s been really frustrating to even have appointments with them. They want the kids baptized, and they’re really really good kids and they’re excited to be baptized. But the mom just hasn’t seemed to be putting it as a priority. But finally on Friday we had an appointment with the whole family together and we set a date! So on November 7 (as long as the dad’s work schedule will let him have the day off) the three kids-Michael (8), Kiara (9), and Cathey (10) will all be baptized! We’re really excited for them! And hey, if I can’t be there to see Ashleigh baptized, I can see some other kids get baptized! Hopefully that won’t be all.

There are still some other part member families that we’re trying to work with and we’re still looking for new investigators. So who knows what else will happen!

It’s getting a little cooler here in California, and it’s very nice, especially to be walking outside! Yesterday we ate with our ward mission leader and I thought of you Erin.because his wife put out lots of fancy cheeses that she had gotten from work. Stinky cheeses not so good, but also brie and gouda. You’d like that, right? Thought so.

Good to hear that everyone is doing well! That the Sanders are reunited in Philadelphia, and everyone is enjoying their fall (winter?) weather! Life here in Anaheim, California is wonderful! S. Cooprider and I continue to get along really well and are improving our teaching together. Life is happy! As always, thank you for your love and prayers and support! I love you all!

Love,
Emily

Home in Anaheim

Hello family! Well, the verdict is in. I am staying in Anaheim. I kind of though that would be the case. S. Cooprider and I are both staying. I'm glad. I've really come to love this area. Though I have to be honest and say that there was definitely part of me that was really hoping that a Spanish area would be opened for sisters, and I'd end my mission there. Oh well! There are people to find and to baptize in this area!

Sister Cooprider,Tracey and Sister Sanders
Anaheim

We had a pretty wonderful week I must say. Nothing especially spectacular. We did a Family Home Evening with the Lucero family and the stake president's family. We taught the Plan of Salvation and then basically played charades/catch phrase/pictionary with different Plan of Salvation words and phrases. Like what we did with Raven and the Restoration. It's good to see how much people know-it shows in how they explain it. Plus, we just want the Luceros fellowshipped more. I don't remember if I clearly explained the Luceros before. Sister Lucero is a member. She's Spanish. I knew her sister in the Santa Ana ward. Robert, the husband, is not Spanish, and not a member. For years S. Lucero took her two daughters with her to a Spanish ward, but last year decided it would be better for them to be in an English ward. Plus, if her husband ever joins, English is better for him too. The girls want to be baptized, always have, but Dad said not until the oldest was 15. So that's now. Jenny (15) and Ashley (13) will be baptized Nov. 14. The Dad is doing well too. He's had lots of missionary lessons. He's never seemed to show too much desire to commit to anything. But he's showing signs of change. Hopefully his daughter's excitement and baptism will help soften his heart!

Raven continues to do really well. We had a great lesson on the Plan of Salvation. He's a deep thinker and had a bunch of questions the other week, so we decided we'd reteach this lesson and help answer/direct his questions. He has interesting questions about the resurrection. He's accepting of the things we explain, he just wants to get it even more. So he was asking if we all have a personal resurrection, at different times, and if Christ would have to be born again and die again and resurrect again so we could then be resurrected. I've never had someone ask that. He also asked if when people are resurrected, if people who aren't resurrected can "perceive them in their physical form." Meaning if we are here as mortals and someone else comes as a resurrected being, if we would see them as we see anybody else. We just used a lot of scripture references and stories to explain principles to him. We had a member there too who brought up all these crazy theories and together they got all philosophical about stuff. That's great. But bottom line is the other stuff doesn't matter. The scriptures tell us plainly what we need to know.

No new investigators this week. Close though! We both really want it though, and are absolutely committed to knocking as much as we need to and working with the members as much as possible to find new people to teach! There are some members that are really trying hard to work with their friends. Others are a little slower about it. Hopefully they got re-inspired from conference this weekend. I though Elder Perry's talk was great. Where he said that as members, we have to study and gain a testimony of the three basic lessons that missionaries teach, so that the member can be ready to testify of them as well. Also just the huge theme of loving one another and serving people that definitely is the heart of missionary work.

I must say my favorite talks were probably Elder Bednar's, because he's always very clear about what he wants to say. They were all wonderful. I really appreciated the ones that talked about learning to recognize the spirit in the first session. That's something I've been trying to improve from day one in the MTC! But I have to agree with you Dad, that Elder Holland's talk was just amazing. He's always sooo passionate and so direct in the way he talks. It's almost a little overwhelming sometimes. But I really appreciated his testimony of the Book of Mormon. It’s inspired me to read the Book of Mormon one more time before I'm finished here. I'm only in Jacob, so I'm really going to have to pick up my pace! It's just so wonderful to hear from the prophet and the apostles! They truly are men called of God!

We got a flat tire yesterday in between conference sessions. I was going to figure out how to change it, because I know it's pretty simple. But this nice man came out and changed it for us. He earned himself a pass-along card! Then yesterday we had dinner with a funny couple. It was S. Cooprider's b-day and she really likes this family. They're 60ish and she's super energetic and never stops talking. She joined the church when they first got married. He used to pitch for the Angels. Apparently he was one of their best. His name is Clyde Wright. (Their son also played baseball, but for the Yankees and for the Cleveland Indians-his name is Jared Wright-in case any crazy baseball fans want to look them up...David!) Anyway. Brother Wright joined the church like 6 years ago. He's crazy. He only goes to priesthood, and not every week. His wife isn't sure why he really joined the church. She said the only time she's heard him pray was when their son was pitching in the World Series. He's really nice though, and funny. He talks like he's an old man, and he calls us Jehovah's Witnesses. Dinner was interesting. This is probably the first time in a long time that they sat down together for dinner.

Love,
Emily

Sister Sanders on the county line of LaHabra and Los Angeles

Knock and Ye Shall Find?

Hello! Well another week is gone. We had a pretty good week. Not too many new things happened. No new investigators. But we're trying really hard!

For one of Raven's appointments this week we tried something different. We want him to get to know people in the branch so he feels comfortable here, but he works at night and can't go to any of the activities or anything. So we invited about of YSAs to our teaching appointment. We basically reviewed with them the Restoration, and then we played a little made up game of charades/pictionary/catch phrase using all words/phrases from the Restoration lesson. I think they really liked it. And it was good because we were able to see that Raven is getting a lot of the things we teach. More than we realize. He was pretty into the game. There are still things he doesn't understand-especially about the plan of salvation. But that's because he asks pretty deep questions and sometimes complicates things. He has time to learn though. And last week President Watrous told us that if we have an investigator on probation who has gone to church for 6 months and paid tithing for 3, then he's willing to write to the first presidency and see if that person can get permission to be baptized. I definitely think Raven could potentially get to that point. Hopefully! It would be nice if he doesn't end up having to wait over a year. We'll see.

The Luceros are still planning on getting baptized Nov. 14. We're still a little afraid that this past elders are going to end up not being able to come out that weekend to baptize the girls, and mom is going to want to push the date back again. But, this is the first time they've actually set a date, and had us tell the bishopric, so hopefully it's really happening! It's just one of those situations that's lame, because the girls have been going to church like they're members for over a year anyway. They just need the benefits of being baptized!

We had a really good visit with Serena, the YSA who was at church last week who is inactive. She's really nice and has been really active in the past, but just hasn't done it yet here. After talking to her we could tell she'd really be a benefit to the branch. And she said she'd be at church. But then she didn't come! AHHHHHH! It's amazing. No matter what, every week people say they'll come to church, and I always believe them. And I'm always surprised when they're not there. Good excuse or not. It's the same thing with this other inactive YSA we've been visiting. Lisa. She was a member for 2 years, really super active, and then I guess she fell off the face of the planet. Nobody heard from her or saw her. When I got here, we made contact with her and have been visiting her and everyone's amazed. She's never committed to coming to church, though she wants to come. But last week we brought another YSA with us, and in front of all of us she said she would come. But she didn't. It really is frustrating. You can't give up on these people, but I don't see why they can't make any efforts! They say they want to, but there's always some little thing that they let be their excuse.

We did get to see the Relief Society Broadcast. Which was great. I was excited because last year we were never told we could go, so we didn't. And I thought it was a really great broadcast! And now I'm even more excited for general conference this weekend!

What else? Nicole is as crazy and frustrating as ever to teach. She really has a lot of problems, and she only hears/listens to what is already familiar to her, and she holds onto that. Sometimes she seems to get it, and other times, absolutely not. We don't know what to do with her. Because stopping teaching her is going to be hard, she'll still be coming to church, and still be depending on us. We really aren't teaching Shakira anymore. Somebody else always answers her phone, and she's never home. Too bad. This is why we're looking really hard for more people to teach! The ward is trying to get us more people to teach too, but it's a slow process.

That was the week! Hopefully this week more interesting/new things will happen! I hope everyone had a wonderful week and will have an even better week! I love you all!

Love,
Emily

Avocados

This week it felt like everyone that we normally see was canceling their appointments with us. I'm not sure what that was about. Right up until last night it was a different week. But I figure that will just make us appreciate even more this week and being able to visit everyone again. We even have some new people that we can visit.

As I've mentioned in the past, our standard is to get the 20 lessons/week. I think that's a basic standard everywhere. So we are supposed to get those through referrals, our own efforts to find, and through visiting less actives/recent converts. And that's where this plan proposed by Elder Perry to have ward councils provide missionaries with 15 names of people to visit comes in. You might not know of it in your ward, but I'm sure it's happening there.

Ward councils are to pray about names of members of the ward or people they know who would accept being taught by the missionaries. Typically it is just people in the ward. These can be part member families, less actives/inactives, or families with kids preparing to go on missions. It is basically people who need that extra boost where we can help. And through those 15 names we should definitely be able to get our 20 lesson/week. But it takes awhile to get it all going, to help ward councils understand how it should happen.

So we have a couple of people we're working with in the Anaheim 2 Ward. And there is a new girl we're going to start teaching this week; that's exciting! In the A 7 YSA branch, it's different; they barely have 30 active members so we're aiming for 15 names, but only have 1 so far. I met a girl at church though who said she's come like 4 times to church and is inactive. We don't have her records, and she said I was only the fourth person to ever talk to her here. Sad! It makes me realize how much just saying hi to someone is a big deal. It's not like the kids in the branch are rude. They're actually really nice. But sometimes we're in our own little worlds and forget. So I hope that's something I can remember post-mission. It's so easy as a missionary to talk to everyone.

I really don't think there's any excuse for a missionary to not be friendly to everyone. Off the mission though, I can see how easy it would be to slip back into just taking care of myself and not looking around at what I can do to help someone else. And especially the YSA age: it's a pretty selfish time. It's also a time though where you can make a big difference for someone else. So anyway, those are my thoughts. We should have a pretty busy week ahead of us. Time is marching on!

Sisters Sanders & Moore, December 2008

It was Mexico's Independence Day last week. Did anyone else realize that? If not, go ahead and celebrate late with some salsa and carne asada.

Oh yeah, tomatillos. Is it too late for me to give a recipe for salsa? Take about 5-8 tomatillos and take off the shell stuff. Then boil them in water until they become pretty much transparent. Then drain the water. Get 2 or 3 Serrano chiles (you can either roast them in a pan, or use them fresh). In a blender put a quarter to half an onion, and a couple cloves of garlic. Then put in the serrano and tomatillos. Blend! Don't add any extra water until the end. The tomatillos hold a lot of water themselves. And that's it! That's your salsa! Some people add a little olive oil. But not much more. Pretty basic. Delicioso! There's the recipe for the week.

We probably have the opportunity at least once a week to sort of teach a lesson in Spanish but not always. Last week we taught the restoration and I was a little rusty. Ah! It's so hard though in an English area where you say hi to people in Spanish and give out cards, but that's about it. But then this is a pretty diverse area. In Anaheim I've met Jamaicans, Laotians, Germans, Indians (from India), Koreans, Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Hungarians, Romanians, Brits, Danes, and probably more I'm not thinking of. That's beside all the Hispanics. It's pretty interesting!

Hermanas Lewis, Sanders and Yeom

The Torres Family

May 2009

Here are our investigators who are progressing: the Lucero girls sort of have a baptismal date for November 14th. Hooray! And we're still teaching Raven. He's doing really good, still coming to church and everything. We're teaching Nicole, too, the slightly crazy lady. I'm not sure what's going to happen there yet. We don't know what her problems are: if they're emotional, psychological, or just learning problems. But we're taking it slow until we can tell what to do. And we're still out knocking doors constantly looking for new people! Yeah!

So everything is going fantastically! It still is amazing to be a missionary! I love it! It's crazy to think of ever having thought of not going on a mission. This was exactly where I needed to be and what I needed to be doing at this time of my life! I'm not sure that I've changed so much; I can't see it anyway. But I know that I've learned tons! I wanted to thank you my family for always being so supportive of me and being amazing examples for me! I love you all and hope all is going well!

Love,
Emily

A Day in the Life

July 2009
La Habra District Transfer Day

Hello all! Everyday this week seemed to just blaze by. But by last night, I realized that somehow the week still seemed long and I was worn out! We had a very full week. Monday we pretty much just got our basic p-day things done really fast then spend the day cleaning our apartment. A couple of girls from the singles ward and Sister Chriswell and Sister Nekesi came and helped us clean. We found out this apartment had missionaries living in it for 5 years. I did almost a year in it myself! We got everything packed up and thrown away and organized and we moved on Thursday. We have elders who are also the "mechanics." They drive a truck so they can help missionaries move and drive around all the luggage when missionaries come/go.

And now we are in our new apartment. I will have to take some pictures. I think we live in the best deal in the mission aside from living with members. We have a washer/dryer in our apartment, granite countertops, all new appliances, very beautiful pool (oh wait, that doesn't effect us) and computers/internet to use on the main floor. They also have a nice little gym here, but we're not allowed to use the gyms as missionaries. Anyway, living here is definitely a perk. We'll see if I end up finishing my mission here! Moving took up a large chunk of our time on Thursday, but we actually were able to visit more people and teach more people this week than our first two weeks. Yeah! It was a very busy week! And we got a bunch of referrals from missionaries, members and other random sources. Even though not all of those are really going anywhere, it's still a blessing to receive referrals! I will try to share some of the highlights from the week.

We continue to teach Raven. He is doing so well! We had to explain to him that his baptismal date will be on hold until he's off probation. But he's reading everything we give him, and more. He came to stake conference on Sunday, and really, he is progressing. I've already seen the changes in him. He was a little more unkempt when we first met him, but he's cleaned up, got a haircut, wears the closest thing he has to a suit to church. I only pray that the branch will really just continue to fellowship him because he's on probation for at least a year, so this is a long term thing. But so far so good!

Right before I got to this area, the sisters received a media referral. A guy was referring his girlfriend to have the lessons. He even called the sisters. But other than that little contact, we had never been able to meet him or her or get in any more contact. After multiple calls this week, we finally talked to him, and he's down in Irvine, but her official home is here in Anaheim so he thought we could teach her.

Sisters Sanders, Patten, and Fatkin
July 2009
Ward Mission Leader's Home

We met with Raichel on Saturday. Her boyfriend couldn't come, but it all worked out. I have never in my mission met anyone who was sooooo incredibly prepared to just be baptized. She's 27, has always lived in Orange County, is really smart and has her own skin care/waxing business. She was raised Christian/Pentecostal; but she always felt something was missing. After ending a 2 year sort of destructive relationship she just wanted to do her own thing for a while. Lots of people kept saying she would meet someone soon who would change everything for her. A couple of days later she went to a club with a friend and saw this guy in line and told her friend "that's my husband." She knew it sounded crazy, but she just felt it. Later that night she finally saw him again and she was just thrilled to have met a "nice Christian boy." When he told her he was a Mormon it was no problem.

They've been dating 6 months and she says he's a little less active actually, but she's gone to church with him a couple of times and has a Book of Mormon and has read various chapters and she just knows it all makes sense. She had a couple of doubts/questions about the trinity, Satan, why we focus on the Book of Mormon, etc., and we talked about them, but after she said her questions were completely answered. She really really wanted to be baptized, but she just wasn't sure. And her dad's a little anti. It was amazing because I feel like we only had to be there to officially invite her to be baptized. As we taught her the Restoration she said she knew it was all true and she cried as we shared the first vision. I don't know that I've ever taught the Restoration where the spirit has been so strong or when the other person has made me want to cry too! Raichel is just incredible. She says she knows it sounds lame but all she really wants is to be a mom and have kids and she feels like that will fulfill her. Yeah! She went to some type of fireside where Elder Scott spoke and she just knew he was an apostle and she's so impressed with everything. She accepted the invitation to be baptized and is so excited and thrilled with everything. She's just so driven by a desire to do what is right. So that's my really long story about Raichel.

The only downside to the story is that we feel like because her boyfriend is in Irvine, and she'd really be going to church there, that the best thing for her would be to be taught by the elders there. Sad! But I'm so excited for her. I have no doubt that she'll be baptized and as long as this Cody, her boyfriend, is right for her, then they will be married in the temple. In fact she'll probably be the driving force for him to become fully active. That's my best story of the week!

Another interesting teaching experience was one we had yesterday. One of the counselors in our branch presidency has 2 Danish exchange students living with him. One is the daughter of a mission companion he had and the other girl isn't a member. And they've come to church together the last couple of weeks. So we thought, “Hey, why not go visit them?” They're both around 21ish: Pia (non member) and Sarah (member).

We talked with them for a little while about all their plans while they're here, and talked about Denmark (now I have someone to go stay with there!) and they had us try black Danish licorice. And I asked them about Ebbleskivers. We asked Pia a little about her religious background. She doesn't really have one. Kind of believes in God, but just figures people believe in whatever makes them feel good and she just doesn't have a belief in much. We asked if we could share a message. Pia was a little surprised, because obviously she doesn't know too much about missionaries. But Sarah wasn't surprised! We watched that video "Finding Happiness" and put it in Danish because though Pia speaks very good English, we figured it would be easier. It seemed perfect because it just talks about the basics, talks about there being a God.

Afterwards she really didn't have much to say. We all bore our testimonies on God and prayer. I invited her to try praying. Her response was kind of like "not to be rude, but is this what you do?" Wondering if that's what we do as missionaries. Yes. It was interesting. She really didn't respond much to the idea of praying or anything. But it's okay. We thought we'd try. Plus now she knows us so maybe if she gets a desire to learn more, she won't be afraid to ask. And I know the family they're staying with does FHE and family prayer together and everything. And they're really good to these girls, so that's a good impression. It was different though to teach someone who really was kind of ambivalent to the idea of God and though she said she's prayed before she never really felt like someone was listening. Hmmm. That was our Danish experience!

We had a really great week! Everything is going really well! We still aren't sure who is going to be baptized this transfer, but it will happen! The weather has been pretty nice, and I'm getting used to the ward/branch. I love you all! Thank you for your prayers and love and support!

Love,
Emily

Newport Temple

Cosmopolitan

Sisters Sanders & Jeung
Zone Conference
June 10, 1009

Hello familia! It is September. Weird, huh? Well, California recognizes the fall by heating up. So we've been enjoying warmer weather lately! Let's see. Well, for my birthday we didn't do too much. Not much to do here. We went and got frozen yogurt. At our Zone Conference I did get a couple of packages from home (my favorite part is the digital frame with the pictures of my cute family!) and everyone sang to us August birthdays, so I did get that!
We had a really good week. We didn't get quite as many lessons as the week before, but that's alright. We are still teaching Raven in the singles branch. He does his reading and comes to church and seems to get it. Though we're not sure that he REALLY gets it, and that he really has a testimony of the restored gospel. But luckily (I guess?) he will probably have some time to continue learning, because of the probation and not being able to get baptized yet. And there are a couple of girls in the branch who are really great about coming to the appointments with us; so we definitely appreciate that!
As I mentioned, we had zone conference, and that was really good. More training is always good! It's so weird; everyone started asking me when I'm going home-not yet! So we talked about being obedient and diligent and how to find people to teach. Later that day we were able to go teach our Jamaican family. Well, it's a dad, his grown daughter, and her two daughters. It was sort of odd because they were sitting/standing in their little kitchen, and we stood in the doorway of the kitchen as we taught the restoration. But it went really well! The dad, Antony, was a little more reluctant. But Shakira seemed really excited. When we talked about the first vision you could tell she liked it and when we asked her if she felt it was possible to Joseph Smith was called to be a prophet, she definitely believed it. They didn't want to commit to baptism, but they want to keep learning. Yeah! It was a really good lesson. We're going back to teach them tonight. There are a couple of guys in our ward who served their missions in Jamaica, so we have some built-in fellow shippers already that at least will get their culture.
We taught a couple of really good lessons on tithing and fasting this week to some less active-ish members in the ward. That's one lesson I really enjoy teaching because most people struggle with those things and don't seem to get the blessings that come through obeying the commandments. I've just always known that there's so much power in following those commandments, and I've been blessed and seen people on the mission blessed by being obedient to them. We actually like to teach these people by having them teach us. We tell them they have to explain tithing/fasting/fast offerings to us as if we didn't understand, and we basically ask them prompting questions the entire time. They end up realizing they know more than they thought, and it helps them see what they need to understand better.

There's this family, the Lucero’s, that are part members. The mom is a member; the husband and two daughters are not members. The mom's sister was in Santa Ana 10 and I knew them well. And I actually did exchanges once and met this family back in December and she remembered me, which was good. The sisters really haven't been able to get in and teach them for months. But apparently she likes Spanish speakers. So she likes me which is good, but awkward; I don't really like people playing favorites. Her husband is American and she is Mexican. The girls aren't baptized because Dad had never given permission, but they have permission now and are apparently waiting for some old elders to come back and baptize them. It's very lame. Anyway, it was a breakthrough that we were even able to visit them this week and it went really well. So that's great!
Oh, and there was a baptism! Cheryl Baldridge was baptized Saturday. It was an amazing baptism; the spirit was so strong. Cheryl actually was excommunicated years and years ago, so this wasn't a convert baptism, but that's alright; it's still exciting. The sisters were still teaching her. She's in her 50's and was once married and has some kids, but they weren't raised in the church. Cheryl met this English guy online about 2 years ago on some LDS link thing, and they've basically been dating for a while. He's a very active member, also divorced, and he'd been out to visit her, and she went to England this summer. Basically because of him, she decided she needed to come back to church and figure things out again. So she did, and he flew out from England to baptize her and she had all kinds of friends and family there too, and after the baptism he proposed. No surprise for us. But she was surprised! He is very hilarious, which I think he has to be; he's an undertaker. So now she's a member and engaged and it was a wonderful day!
Next time you talk to the missionaries in your ward, ask them if they have the video "Finding Happiness." It's probably one of my top top top favorites of the mission. It's like 5 minutes long and was originally made to introduce the idea of God to people who didn't have religious backgrounds. But it's amazing. I love showing it to members at dinner appointments and talking to them about how they've been blessed through the gospel. Then we give them the SLC temple pass along cards with the web site on the back. Every single time we watch that movie, at least for me, the spirit just comes right in. And I notice something new every time. It talks about there being a "designer" and how we can communicate with the designer. It's so good and you should ask your missionaries to show it to you!

Hermana Sanders & Lewis
Elders Cruz, Hall, Parker, & Staheli
Santa Ana April 19, 2009

Well, I guess a bunch of other things happened last week too, but those are some of the highlights. So this week we are moving. Our apartment lease is up and I am grateful! New apartment! I don't know why, but they've actually chosen for us a very very brand new apartment to live in that is very expensive and very nice. Washer and dryer in the unit! Crazy! So last week we had a lot of our extra furniture removed from our apartment and we will be cleaning all day today and then moving in on Thursday to our "high-end, cosmopolitan" apartment. It's too bad though that it will take up quite a bit of our time to actually go out and work this week. There's no time to lose!
Okay, family! I love you all! I hope the move to Philadelphia goes well for the Sanders when that happens, and that the sisters are feeling all better and that the babies are good and jobs are good and everyone is happy happy happy! Thank you for everything!
Love!
Emily

Hermana Lews, Sanders & Fatkin with Jung at her baptism
March 14, 2009