The Miracle of Baptisms

Hello everyone!  I hope y'all had an awesome week this week. :)

The work is picking up!  Thank goodness!  :)  Still don't have a lot to talk about, but I think I have more than what I had last week. :)

So, on Wednesday, we were out member tracting, and we ran into this Catholic lady, Terri.  At first, she was a little brash and rude, quickly proclaiming that she was happily Catholic.  We were all like "That's awesome!  Are you active in the Catholic church?" and she responded yes, and then talked about her Irish heritage (SCORE!).  Obviously, we started talking.  She soon after apologized for sounding so rude, and she agreed to let us visit her later!  And she agreed to try to read a little bit of the Book of Mormon!  Whoohoo!  That was pretty exciting. :)  We also contacted a 12 year old girl, Taylor Babneau, who wants to be baptized!  How exciting is that?!  So we're hoping to get a hold of her parents and getting them involved too, because we know that Brother Babneau for sure is less-active, and we think his wife isn't a member.  So it would be awesome if we could get them involved in the discussions as well. :)  We also met a Recent Convert named Sue Pierce, and she's super sweet. :)  She's getting ready to go to the temple soon!

Thursday through Saturday was sort of a blur.  I finally got the music I needed for the Williams baptism Thursday evening, and when I looked over it, I think my eyes grew to the size of baseballs as I realized that the notes were going to be too high for me.  I was praying for a miracle (or, more like I was praying for my mother who just automatically plays songs in a key I can sing).

So, I was in panic mode, thinking "OH MY GOODNESS!!!  What am I going to do?!?!  I'm not going to be able to have this prepared by the day of the baptism!!!  I have no one to play, and I can't sing these notes!!" o_O

So the Holy Ghost prodded the back of my head to go see the Hansens, who we had eaten with a couple of days before.  I figured it was at least a decent start-- Faith, the oldest daughter, can play the piano, so off we went.

Thankfully, when we reached the house and asked Faith, she agreed to play for us, and we starting running through.  Turned out I could barely hit the notes, but it was definitely out of my range.  Well, her dad, Brother Hansen, heard me screeching out the notes, and was like "oh no!  We are NOT killing your voice!"  So he comes over to the piano, tests out my vocal range, and then instructs me on how to transpose my music to the key of C!  MIRACLE!!!!!!!!!!  I was SO happy!!!  

So I spent a lot of time on Friday and Saturday practicing for the baptism. But we had some breaks-- we had Zone Meeting (where I received revelation and rebuking as to how to make the last three months the best yet on my mission), we had a High Priest social where a guy came to talk about the different instruments used for bluegrass music (which was super cool--it was really enjoyable), and we helped Sister Trumayne weed out her front yard.

But it all boiled down to Saturday, 4:30 PM, when Sister Longhurst and I left our companions behind to go to Caldwell. 

LOOK AT HOW BEAUTIFUL GARY, AMANDA, AND TIM LOOK!!!!!! :D

​(ignore my closed eyes)

Isn't it so exciting?! :D  I'm so proud of them all!!!  The baptism went great, and it was a beautiful service.  And even President and Sister Cannon came to see it! :D  And I was able to sing my song well, and they all loved it.  Thank goodness!  Since they were the ones that asked for that particular song.  On the way home, I almost cried--I could visualize them all going to the temple, dressed in white, to be sealed as a family.  They have come so far, and they will continue to progress and grow.  They are a little miracle family, and it will take them far in the gospel.

On a last note, we got one new investigator Sunday.  Her name is Courtny Hauge.  She has a friend how is on their mission right now, and he sends her little reading assignments.  But she doesn't always understand what he sends her, so she wants our help in teaching her!  We're going to go see her this Saturday. :)  We're really excited. :)

Anyways, that's it for this week.  It's been crazy, but it's been wonderful.  I am so grateful for the time I had to teach the Williams, and that I could serve them for their baptismal service.  And I'm grateful that they are on the path to return home to their Heavenly Father, and that Heavenly Father has allowed me to be a part of their return home.

I love you all, and keep building your faith!

Love,

Sister Empey

​(PS-- This is me and Sister Osburn, my companion. :)  Thought you might enjoy a picture. :) )

April 20, 2015

Ummm..... wow.  I really don't know what to say.

This week had been CRAZY.  We didn't get to work like we normally do, because we had to clean out EVERYTHING.  But it was good. It looks like we have a lot of work to do, because we're basically starting from scratch.

Um.... due to the fact that we had to start a burn pile and be reborn from the ashes, there wasn't a whole lot that happened this week.  A big part of what we're doing is earning member trust right now.  We've really been trying to work with the bishops and ward mission leaders especially.  We're starting to map out ward mission plans for both wards.

OH!  But we had a totally cool experience on Sunday. :)  So, it was after both wards were finished, we were by the bishops office, and someone (whose name I can't remember), said "how old do youth have to be to teach lessons to?"

Thinking he meant us missionaries teaching a youth class, I replied that we would have to have a third female in order to teach any youth class.

And he was like "Oh, well, Ezekiel here is 15 and wants to take the discussions...."

O_O  My thoughts: wait, WHAT?!?!

So I quickly corrected myself: "OH!  Anyone can take the discussions!"

Yup.  We got a new investigator.  :D  He's been coming to mutual and had come to church for a couple of weeks and wants to learn more!  WHOOHOO!!!!

Anyways, that's all.  The lady we live with, Sister Trumayne, is awesome.  She has 2 dogs (Scooby and Bella), 1 cat (whose name  I don't remember-- she hides from us), two baby ragdoll kitties (Sis Osburn and I have dubbed them Sushi and Geronomo), and a rabbitt (Hunter).  Love it! :D  But you know me--I love animals. :)

Love all of you!  Keep being awesome!

Love,

Sister Empey

Come and Gone

Um..... well...... TRANSFER DAY!!!!

Do you know what that means?!  It means that I have NO idea what happened because my planner is packed away randomly somewhere!

But we'll get to that in a moment.

Um..... yeah.  I seriously can't remember what has happened this week..... we saw Gary and Amanda like.... 4 times this week.  Seriously.  We did a LOT of teaching.  After all, we gotta get them prepared for baptism!  Goodness, I feel like they take up all of my spare time!  I love it though!  It's so great to work with such amazing people! :)

Um... yeah.  It's already been 6 weeks!  Can you believe it?!  I've spent a whole 6 weeks in Marsing, ID!  But, apparently, it's time for me to move on.  And guess where I'm moving to?  Nampa East!  I'm in 2 wards again-- 30th and 34th.  And it will be nice, because Sister Longhurst is in the same zone as me. :)  So my companion is Sister Osborn, and she's from Rigby, ID, serving a mini mission. :)  I get to finish training her before she heads home.  I'm super excited for this opportunity. :)  So.... yeah.  That's about it.

Um... yeah.  Gary and Amanda were super bummed that we were both moving out, but that's okay-- they want me to sing at their baptism!!!  How crazy is that?!  I'm so excited!  They want me to sing "I Can Only Imagine"-- I just hope my voice will be in good condition for it!  haha

Well.... yeah.  I'm sorry that this is all I have to say!  I'll write more next week!  Love all of you, and remember how much the Lord loves you!

Love,

Sister Empey

 Cool Road.  You just.... well... have to be cool.  End of story.

Lizard Butte.... it kinda looks like a lizard.  Thus the name of the butte. 
Sadly, never got to hike it.

Sis Longhurst and I, as always. :)

Easter Conference? Yes please!

Satan isn't happy with us.  He's trying with all his might to keep us from teaching.  Between Ssiter Longhurst getting sick with what I got (but worse), and cancelled appointments, there isn't a whole lot to report on, but we still found progress and found some work to do.

So, on Tuesday, Sister Longhurst woke up where I was a week ago: completely and totally miserable.  I know I did some cleaning and studying and watched some of the Life of Christ videos (the Bairs in our ward kindly bought each of us a "Life of Christ" DVD), but that's all I really remember.

However, Sister Longhurst was feeling a tad bit better, so we went out to help a less-active, Leslie Wright, brush down her horses.  That was a miracle in and of itself.  Sister Longhurst had been teaching Leslie's daughter and granddaughter, Heather and Alice, but they had stopped responding to the missionaries back towards the end of January.  Well, we heard that Alice's birthday was coming up, so we decided to give Alice a little goodie bag for her birthday.  On Sunday, we went to drop it off, and Leslie was outside!  So we stopped by, offered to help her brush down her horses, and she agreed!  So we set up the service project for Wednesday.  Thus the reason why Sister Longhurst had to be better for at least this appointment.  So, we brushed down the horses, and Leslie's daughter, Heather, made us some chicken noodle soup, which was very appreciated since it was cold and windy outside.  Well, to finish off our visit there, we showed them the "Because He Lives" video, and they both LOVED it!  I felt impressed then to ask them to read 3 Nephi 11 as a family, and they agreed, and they wrote it on the little sicky pad that we had given to Alice for her birthday!  YAY!!!  They like us!!! :D  haha Anyways, we'll get to see them this coming Wednesday, and I'll actually get to meet Alice. :)  But I love these people already.  They're awesome. :)

Thursday was another sick day.  More studying, more cleaning, more Church-approved DVDs.

Friday we had a district meeting on Charity, and how all of the Christ-like attributes are connected together through charity.  It was very neat.

Then Conference.  OH MY GOODNESS CONFERENCE!!!!!  It makes me so happy!!  :D  Wasn't it so good y'all?!  OH!  So good!!!  I think what stood out the most to me was President Uchtdorf during the sustaining of the Church Officers.  He didn't let that shake him.  He calmly accepted it, mentioned that their vote had been noted and left it at that.  What I loved about it was that he didn't make a big deal out of it.  He calmly accepted it, and moved on.  Sometimes, when people oppose your beliefs, it's so easy to get fired up and immediately defend yourself.  But more often than not, the best thing is to accept their opinion, and try to leave on the best note possible.  I have found this more and more often on my mission-- the more people argue with me about my beliefs, the more I simply just move on to someone willing to listen to the message of the gospel.  So yes, that was probably the most important part of conference to me.

After Conference on Sunday, we went and got to visit with Sarah for a little bit, which was awesome because we hadn't seen her at all last week (because she was sick too).  We taught a short lesson about obedience and following the prophet, and then showed her the "Because He Lives" video.  Little Sarah, who is super scatter-brained and all over the place, sat in awe for a few minutes after the video.  You could tell that she was very touched by the spirit, which we explained to her.  She really is prepared to receive the Gospel.  It was very nice.

And to round out the week, we had a beautiful Easter fireside, put on by all of the missionaries in the stake and the ward members.  We read "The Living Christ", and had a musical number for each paragraph.  It was very beautiful, and the Spirit was strong.  What a wonderful way to wrap up such a beautiful day!

Well, that's all for this week.  I love all of you, and I know that the Savior lives for each and every one of us.  What a blessed opportunity we had to celebrate His Resurrection yesterday, but let us always Remember Him and His sacrifice for us in our hearts, so that we may have everlasting joy.

Love,

Sister Empey

Happy Easter from the Caldwell Crew!!!

Five!!! FIVE!!!!! o_O

Holy Snot you guys!!!!!  FIVE BAPTISMAL DATES FOR NEXT TRANSFER!!!!!! O_O  FIVE!!!!  Can you believe that?!  *happy dancing*  TOTALLY AWESOME!!!

Um.... yeah.... anyways.....

So, I woke up TOTALLY sick on Tuesday.  I had a headache, an earache, and it took all of my energy just to go from the bedroom to the kitchen.  Turns out I had the flu. Blech.  Needless to say, I spent my day at home, trying to stay alive.  That night, our Ward Mission Leader and his Assistant, Brother Garner and Brother Anderson, came and gave me a Priesthood Blessing, where it was commanded that I should be healed.  I was kind of like "woah, commanded to be healed?!"  Needless to say, I had to have a little prayer in my heart as well to have the faith to be healed in such a way.

Wednesday was better.  I still was sick, but I was able to at least move around, and my fever was gone.  So there was some things that we still had to do, so I was member hopping homes while Sister Longhurst went with other members to appointments and meetings.  It was fun-- I hung out with Brother Andersons wife and helped her take care of her chickens.  And then later that night I went over to the Colletts and entertained their gaggle of girls with different stories from my life (who knew that my life was so entertaining?).  So, while I was having fun, Sister Longhurst was hard at work, and got Nicole Hunsaker to commit to a solid baptismal date of May 23!  YAY!!!!  I was sad that I couldn't be there, but I'm glad that we now have a firm baptismal date with her.

On Thursday, I was finally well enough to go out and work a little bit.  (haha finally?  I act like I had been out for a week rather than just a couple of days)  So we went and finished Lesson 2 with the Williams (Amanda and Gary).  Um.... I don't remember how it went, I just remember that it went really well.  Oh!  And that they bought CTR rings for themselves!  Seriously, how much cooler can they get?!  They saw CTR rings at Walmart and were like "Oh!  Let's buy some!"  Crazy, right?!  But totally awesome. :)

Friday.  Um.... Friday..... OH!  We went and helped this lady, Julie Eggleston, clean off her patio furniture.  Her husband is a less-active member, and she has expressed interest in learning more about the church.  We shared a message with her afterwards about the Living Christ, and she really loved that.  She said that she will be busy until the middle of May or so as she wraps up the school year (she works as a teacher in an alternative class for Elementary School), and then she wants us to come back and help her more!  Super exciting. :)

Then Saturday... the General Women's Conference.  Wasn't it amazing?! :)  I loved it. :)  I loved how everyone talked about the family, and how important the family unit is, and that it must be protected at all costs.  How true it is!  Well, after the Women's Conference, we went to have dinner at the Insleys, a less active couple.  They're super fun. :)  After dinner with them, even though we were cutting close to curfew at this point, we decided to show the "Because He Lives" Easter initiative to them.  It ended up being perfect-- you could tell that Sister Insley was really feeling the Spirit, and she started crying when we gave a prayer!  It was so sweet.  I think at least she will be coming back to church soon.

And then Sunday.  WOW.  Sunday.

So, we were really hoping that Gary and Amanda would make it to chruch, and they didn't.  But halfway through church, Amanda texted us and was like "I'm so sorry, I have been so sick this weekend."  We asked if there was anything we could do for them, and she mentioned that they wouldn't be able to get any food until Wednesday, so we gathered all of the misc. food that we could find at our home and went over to their house to give it to them.  They were so touched that we were so giving!  We ended up staying at their home for 2 hours, teaching them the first discussion, and about how their lives have changed since they've started coming to the LDS church.  And their son, Tim, who's 9, sat in, and was like "Yeah, last time when you came, I was in my bedroom listening, and when you prayed, I bowed my head and put my hands together like this!"  And then he said that he wanted to be baptized with his parents!  We were like, "Um, YEAH you can be baptized with your parents!"

Needless to say, we have 5 baptism dates now.  Gary, Amanda, Tim, Sarah, and Nicole.  This is so exciting.  The ward really needs a good pick-me-up like this.  It's so exciting to see how the Lord has prepared each of these individuals to receive the Gospel.  It makes me so happy. :)

So, on my last note, BECAUSE HE LIVES.

Have you seen it yet?  If not, GO SEE IT. helives.mormon.org

SO AMAZING!  I love this video, the Spirit is so strong in it.  Don't ever forget-- the Savior knows all of your pains and all of your trials, but as a result, he knows all of your triumphs and joy, and He is cheering you on and helping you out every step of the way because He wants to see you succeed.  I love it. :)

Well, I love all of you, and I hope you're having an amazing week thus far!

Love,

Sister Empey

3 baptism dates and an investigator - March 23, 2015

HOLY COW!!! :D  Hello!!!  I can't believe it's been another week!!!  So much has happened! :D

So, as you know, St Patricks Day is one of my favorites. :)  So I made a traditional Irish meal for lunch!  We had this HUGE random chicken sitting in our fridge, so I cut off the breasts and thighs and made some roasted chicken with a mustard sauce and made some Haggarty (a dish with bacon, potatoes, onions, and cheese.  It was pretty darn good.).  I'm pretty darn proud of myself--it was pretty good.

(see--here's me with the chicken--halfway cut up. :)  That was a new experience.  Totally fun. :) I was going to cut off the wings too, but then I decided that it would be too much work.)

Later on that day, we went to go visit this little old lady named Edna.  honestly, one of the oddest visits I've ever made.  The entire time we visited with her she kept talking about how she was going to get into trouble with her son because we were there!  And then she kept changing the names of all of her kids.  Well, we visited with her, shared a message, and asked if we could come back, and she was like "that would be lovely!  Why don't you give me a call?"  So, obviously, we asked for her number.  Her reply? "Oh, well, I don't give out my number."

.... wait?  What was that?  You want us to call you but guess what your number is? .... that's a wee bit difficult.

So we tried another route.  We offered her one of our pass-along cards with our number on it, and pointed out the picture of the Savior on front, and she loved that.  So, we told her to give us a call when she wanted us to come by.

she smiled, flipping the card back and forth, and her smile started fading.  She then handed it back to us and said "No thank you, I don't want this."

.... totally awkward.

So we left with a hug and wished her good luck and headed out for the rest of our day.

On Wednesday I finally got to meet the Hunsakers-- Doug is coming back into activity and Nicole is going to be baptized in May!  We're trying to set an actual date, because she wants her daughter to be there for the baptism, but we're thinking it will be the week of the 10th!  So exciting!  Anyways, we had a lesson with them on the Law of Chastity, Tithing, and Fasting.  It went really well.  And then they made Chicken Enchiladas for us for dinner.  They were so good! :)  MmmmmMmmm!  I'm starting to think that Mexican food is what feeds the soul. :)  haha

Thursday was.... WOW.  Amazing.

So, back up to Monday.  Sister Longhurst had a prompting to text Amanda and Gary Williams, investigators of ours that she hadn't seen for a while, and we were able to set up an appointment with them for Thursday afternoon after a couple of days.

Now, going back to Thursday.  We go to meet with them, and Gary shares this experience he had where he talked about feeling bogged down, so he grabbed his phone and opened up the LDS scripture app and started reading the scriptures and felt almost immediately better!  He said that he didn't remember what he read, but he remembered thinking that it was time for him to change and start living what he was teaching his kids, and asked Amanda when we would be stopping by next.  Well, lo and behold, we texted the very next day!  So they talked about how they missed the Spirit we brought with us, and how they want it, and how they want to be more involved with the church!  After a little bit of talking, I felt super impressed to invite them to be baptized, and they accepted!  So after some discussion, we decided on April 25, the same day that we have for Sarah Sheeter!  SO EXCITING!! :D

And then on Friday we had our Sister's Conference!  It was really good-- the theme was about how we are always growing and learning in life.  It was really good and lots of fun. :)  President and Sister Cannon's daughter Mary, and niece Anne, came down and talked with us about their missions.  It was super awesome. :)

Um... Saturday.... oh!  We had dinner with Sarah and her grandparents, the Fergusens.  Then we taught Sarah about baptism a little bit because we really didn't have time to teach a full lesson.  But that's okay, because we got to teach her the Plan of Salvation on Sunday.  It went really good :)  She doesn't always focus well and tends to jump around, but she gets it, and there are times that you can tell that the Spirit is working with her, and it's a precious moment to see that. :)

And my last piece of news... we got a new investigator today!!!! :D   YAY!!!  So there's this lady named Linda Symms, and she asked us if we could come over and help us with her garden this morning, so we did.  Afterwards, we had lunch with her, and asked if she would like to take the lessons, and she said yes!!!  How awesome is that?!  so, we now have a new investigator. :)

Well, that's it for this week!  keep your faith strong, and know all is going well in my little area of the world!

Love,

Sister Empey

​(Sisters Lyman, Longhurst, Fox, myself, and Djikwell)

​(Sister Colby and I at Sisters conference.)

​(Sister Hurst, Mama Rob, Sister Longhurst, and me :) )

Monday, March 16, 2105

Well Hello my dear family and friends. :)

Well, this week.  WOW.  This week.

so, we started off with a really good Zone meeting about prayer and faith, and how we can use it to find people.  It was one of the most amazing Zone meetings I've been to yet!  It is really helping Sister Longhurst and I re-evaluate our area and see how we can improve the work that's being done here and come up with ideas of how to find people in such a vast area.  So yeah.  We're excited to see how this will help us. :)

On Wednesday, we were going to try some homes on a street called Ila Lane, and noticed a do Not contact there.  So, we called up Bishop McIntyre (whose name I have a terrible time remembering), and asked what he knew about it.  he told us that he didn't know, so of course we were going to go contact it and see why.  (Let's face it-- you can't escape the Church.  Once we meet you, you'll always be on somebody's list, and there will always be somebody brave enough to go contact you.)  Well, we knock on the door, and the wife, Jodie McAbee, answers it and lets us in!  We talk for a while, and she explains that while she's not a member, her husband is, and had been talking about starting to come back to church with his son Andrew!  We were like "AWESOME!  Can we come back to visit y'all sometime?"  And she said yes!  So, we set up an appointment to visit on Friday evening.  The rest of the story will continue in a little bit.

And Thursday was exciting-- Sister Longhurst hit her halfway point, so she got to go to the temple!  Isn't that super exciting?!  :D   SO EXCITING!!! :D  So I got to spend my day with the Sister Training Leaders, Sister Lyman and Sister Dijkwell.  It was super fun!  I have never had so much fun being in a trio. :)  We were super busy all afternoon and evening, and 9:00 PM came before I knew what happened.  And Sister Longhurst had an amazing time at the temple.  Eek!  I can't wait until I get to go back! :D

Friday was a day of food.  We started off the morning by meeting Rosie, a less-active member who wants to go to the temple, but her work schedule prohibits her from getting to church on Sundays.  Well, we saw her last week, and I had a really strong prompting to invite her to take the time to walk the temple grounds and to feel the Spirit there.  She flatly turned it down, saying that she didn't have time and that it was too far away.  Needless to say, it was a little crushing to hear after feeling so strongly to ask her to go.  Well, we met up with her this Friday at this place called "The Orchard House" for breakfast, and to read out of the temple magazine like we usually do, and guess what?!?!  SHE WENT AND WALKED AROUND THE TEMPLE GROUNDS!!!!!  Holy cow, this was HUGE progress for her!  According to Sister Longhurst, she has never kept a commitment, so to follow through with a commitment that she didn't even promise to keep is BIG.  We asked her what it was like to walk the grounds, and she told us about the peace she felt, and how she noticed how many people were coming in and out.  We answered that one day, that will be her.  One day, she will be one of the people walking in and out of the temple.  It was a very sweet and tender moment.  After that, we went home to study, then went off to lunch with Sister Lamar, who is a convert of 10 years, but is just coming out of almost 9 years of inactivity.  And she just adopted a brand-new little baby, Nora (long story, don't ask).  As we were there, we tried to answer a question of hers about the Godhead (she was really confused with that when we had dinner with her last week), but we don't really know if we were able to answer it or not.  But at least we tried!  But we're going to start going through Preach My Gospel with her, so maybe that will help her with all of her questions... hopefully.  And then that night, we had dinner with a less-active lady, Jewel Black.  it was good, but it was fast-- because we had to go visit the McAbees on Ila Street!

Talk about one of the most awkward visits I've ever had.  So, we go over, and Brother McAbee was like "yeah, I'm kind of thinking of coming back, but the rest of the family except Andrew are Jehovah's Witness and not interested and there's really nothing you can do to help us."  And we were like ".... oh."  AND THEN, he's like "Oh, excuse me, I gotta go out and help my wife out real fast."  HIS WIFE WASN'T EVEN IN THE HOUSE!!!  O_O  Missionary mode totally kicked in and we were like "AH!!!!  We're breaking rules here!!!"  But it ended up being okay-- she came into the house, we shared a scripture, and got out. 

... yeah.  We aren't sure where to go now with that.  We'll find something to do though.

And on a last note, guess what?!  WE GOT A NEW INVESTIGATOR YESTERDAY!!!! :D  Sarah Sheeter is 9, and the granddaughter of an active couple.  So her grandparents asked her mom if she could take the lessons, and her mom said yes!  So we went over Sunday, taught her the first lesson, and set a baptism date for her!  We aren't sure if she'll be able to make it, because of doctors appointments and stuff, but we're really excited. :)  Her mom agreed to let Sarah take the lessons, because she said that it wouldn't be fair to Sarah if she couldn't return to Heavenly Father because she died of her heart condition and hadn't been saved yet.  When her mom was telling us that, it was a very tender moment.  You can see how much the mom, Mandy, loves Sarah.  And Sarah is super sweet and totally prepared to have the Gospel.

Well, that's it for this week!  I love y'all, and keep the faith!

Love,

Sister Empey