So, we had Stake Conference yesterday.
The Emmett Stake has a new stake president! After 14+
years of serving in the Stake Presidency, President Walker was finally
released! It was a bitter-sweet Stake Conference. Everyone really
loves President Walker, and he was really active with the youth and getting
mission work done here in the area.
And our new stake president? President Kelsey Peterson
from East Valley Ward. And he is young.
And I'm not kidding.
His oldest kid is 8 years old. His youngest was just
born at the end of February. He's never been in the bishopric, or on the
high council, and he's only been the executive secretary for the old stake
president for like.... 4 or 5 months. But he is an incredible person, and
has an enlightening and strong spirit about him. I remember when we had
dinner a few weeks ago with his family, just thinking that we would probably
work with him a bit. I thought that because he asked us to give
him a pile of pass-along cards for him, and his family, to pass out.
Apparently, not so. Heavenly Father had something
bigger in store.
I can't wait to see where he'll take the stake. He's
going to be amazing.
Anyways, as for the rest of the week, it was pretty average
I suppose.
So, we started teaching the Babbs family on Thursday.
It was such an awesome lesson! We taught them about families, and
about the Proclamation, and they were both really involved in the conversation!
It helped to have Sis Grover there too. She sort of just did the
work for us. She was all like "Yeah! You should read the
Proclamation together, and come out for stake conference, and oh! Date
night! Come help us chaperon a dance for the youth!" But really,
it's a good thing that Sister Grover was there, because it's obvious that the
Babbs really trust her. (I suppose they should-- Bro... President Grover
is Will Babb's boss. (Sorry, forgot-- President Grover is the second counselor
in the Stake Presidency. He's another awesome person. Like, totally
awesome. There's no other way to describe it.)) But yeah.
They're still totally open to having the discussions, and Will seems
genuinely interested in learning. They're a really sweet couple-- you can
really tell that they are really doing their best to make their marriage work,
and that they love and care for their little kids (whose names and ages escape
me at the moment-- but they're both nursery age.) I'm really excited for
them.
We also went to the Puccios and showed them the Restoration
video. Brother Puccio enjoyed it so much that he had us watch it again
with him! And then he watched it 5 more times after we left! And on
top of that, he's already been studying the Book of Mormon and is in Mormon!
So, we did that on Friday, and then went and visited them again on
Sunday. When we asked him what he thought of the video, he said
"Honestly, I don't know if it's all true, but I don't see why it couldn't
be true." And then he told us that his only big hang up was how
Moroni took the plates and we don't know where they are! It was a bitter
sweet moment! We were like "Yay! Only one hangup!.... No!
It's one that has to be dealt with in faith!.... Yay! Thank goodness
he understands the concept of faith!" Anyways, we're going to start
officially teaching them the lessons on Wednesday, which I'm super excited for.
And it means that Nancy's friend, Sister Saxton, should be able to join
us for their lessons. But we told them we'd still pop by for chit-chats
in between the lessons. I just love being at their house! There is
already a strong spirit within their home, because they really want to live a
Christ-centered life. I can just imagine how much stronger the Spirit
will be when they accept the Gospel and Dan can have the preisthood.
Yeah, love the Puccios. We've even took on the habit of calling
them Grandma and Grandpa. They're like, our adoptive grandparents for
while we're out here. How can we not call them our grandparents?!
When Dan prays for us before he leaves, he calls us "my girls".
And Sis Puccio offered to go buy us anything we need at Deseret Book
since we can't go there ourselves. I'm sorry-- I keep calling them different
names. They just make me so excited and I just love them so much!
But really-- how can you not love them? We can just see
them going to the temple, dressed all in white, getting ready to be sealed.
We want to see Grandpa Puccio become a temple president, or a patriarch,
or an area 70, or something like that. And we want to see Sis Puccio be
like, the Relief Society President for the stake. Anyways,
Brother/Grandpa Dan Puccio and Sister/Grandma Nancy Puccio are totally golden.
And we want to see them reach that higher plane of their relationship
with Christ. SO BAD we want to see them reach that.
Other than that there isn't much going on..... we might have
to drop Mary sadly due to the fact that she's spending a lot of time in Boise
and are unable to reach her... I just hope that all is okay with her, and that
if we do end up having to drop her, that someone else will be able to pick her
up again later. I really don't want to drop her, but the situation is
presenting itself other wise. :(
But other than that, all is going well!
Don't forget! Psalms 112:4! Be that light!
Oh, and I've been studying Joseph Smith's account this past
week. Can I say, there is such a strong spirit within his words? I
have never noticed how strong, how powerful his words were. Reading
Joseph Smith-History has really helped strengthen and solidify my testimony of
Joseph Smith, of how he was called of God in the pre-mortal life to bring
Christ's church back to the earth, how he saw a vision of God the Father and
his Son, Jesus Christ, and how he was truly an instrument in the Lords hands.
It is truly incredible. Again, it makes me so grateful to be
out here on a mission. It makes me grateful and humble to progress the
work that Joseph Smith brought back to the earth, to bring that knowledge and light
to others. I love it out here. I love serving my Heavenly Father.
And I would not trade this experience for anything.
I love you all, and hope you're doing well!
Love,
Sister Empey
(.... yeah.... only in Emmett will you find graffiti that says "God Bless and He cares".... I love it. This is more than likely my favorite spot in Emmett. Just sayin'.)
So, check out the view from
the edge of town
Isn't it pretty? I
love it here. :)
And one last picture for
the road....
Sun is in our eyes, but
we're happy. :)
Love you! And miss you!
Keep doing good!
Love,
Sister Empey
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