February 23, 2015 - MIRACLES ARE COMING!!

WOW!!  Talk about a CRAZY week!!!

So, first off: THREE NEW INVESTIGATORS!!!!!! O_O  Crazy, right?!

So, here's how the story goes: so, one thing the stake is doing is having a 3-week Sunday school where they talk about member missionary work, and they commit them after the three weeks to set a date to invite someone to take the lessons by.  So, we decided that we would do the same.  So, we set a date that we would find an investigator by Saturday.

So, Wednesday, we went to visit a potential investigator of ours, Amanda Todd, and her friend Mariah happened to be there.We talked to both of them-- Amanda is going through a divorce, and Mariah is adopting her brothers.  And they both agreed to take the lessons!  How awesome is that?!

Then on Saturday, we went and saw Kim Lawrence.  So, we gave her a condensed version of lesson one, with a focus on Ordinances.  And she quietly listened.  It was sort of weird, not having her badger us with questions and argue almost every point that we bring up.  But it allowed us to work closer with the Spirit and answer what questions she did have.  then she made the comment of how she's been through the lessons twice, and that maybe the third time will be the charm.  We were like "Wait!  Really?!  FOR REALS?!?!"  So we get to teach Kim!  Again!  Holy Snot, how awesome is that?!  I'm so excited! :D

Let's see, what else this week?  Oh!  Zone conference and exchanges. :)

So, we had Zone conference this Thursday, and it was one of the best ones I have had so far.  I think that it was so good because we actually had something to study before we went: we had to study a talk called "The Fourth Missionary".  Basically, it talks about how there are 4 different types of missionaries: the first is disobedient and gets sent home; the second is like the first, but makes it through their whole missions; the third is obedient and gives his might and strength; the forth missionary is obedient and gives his heart, might, mind, and strength.  And the Fourth missionary is the person we should be striving for.  So the entire theme of the Zone Conference was about different aspects of this talk.  It was really good and very uplifting.  And then we did skits on making and keeping commitments with our investigators.  It was a lot of fun. :)

Then after that we went on exchanges, so I went to Nampa North with Sister Dunkle!  It was lots of fun.  On Friday night, we taught the second lesson to an ex-communicated member, Damian.  He was really nice, and funny.  he really liked how well the two of us worked together, even though I'm not her usual companion.  Then in the morning, we went and cleaned out this lady's garden.  Holy cow, talk about NASTY!!!  That garden was dead and overgrown, and there were rotten chicken eggs all over.  Needless to say that by the end of it, we all smelled like rotten eggs.  And that's all that I tasted all night long.  It sucked.  But it was still fun. :)

On Saturday, we also had fish with the Woods.  And holy cow!  Brother Wood makes a good brown sugar glaze for fish. :)  It was yummy. :)

And my last piece of news is in regards to the Martin Girls: we saw them Sunday night, and watched the hour long Joseph Smith movie with them.  And as we were talking to the grandparents after, they told us that their mom is coming down to visit, and that they're going to try to get her permission to have the girls baptized!  EEEE!!!  So we gave them the baptism forms for the mom to sign.  We're all really hoping that she'll agree now.... fingers crossed!  Definitely praying for some miracles right now!

Well, this was short, but that's it!  I love y'all!

Love,

Sister Empey

February 16, 2015 - I think I'm in the swing of this missionary stuff...

I.... I don't even know what to say about this week.  It's been busy-- I can tell you that much!  But I can't remember what happened, so... this might seem scarce.  Sorry.

Um..... on Tuesday we saw Kristy Boswell for the first time since October!!!  Crazy, right?  She's been going through some training for the prisons.  Talk about some intense stuff.  It was good to see her again, and she wants us to stop by again!  I'm glad she likes us coming over. :)

On Wednesday, after District Meeting, we went down to Main street to this little thrift shop called Grandpa's Attic to see if we could find a CTR ring for Glenda Price, and we ended up having a really great conversation with the owner, Sheryl, and her friend, Cami!  And after talking to them, Cami asked if we could go visit her sister, or send some missionaries out there to visit her!  She then jokingly said that maybe even she would change her religious beliefs!  We ate that up like candy, so we gave her one of our pass-along cards, and wrote down her information.  Sadly, her home is out of our area, but it was in the other Sisters area, so we have them the information.  I love how we work together to further the Lords work!

And then that night, we went to Karysma's home.  Talk about a crazy house!  When we got there, their three dogs were going NUTS.  It turns out that they had found two dogs, and they were keeping them in the backyard until they could find the owners.  It was a circus trying to switch the dogs out so that their dogs had a chance to go outside!  It was great. :)  Anyways, we went over the first lesson with Karysma, and it went well. :)  She remembered a little bit, but not a lot, so I'm glad we got to teach it again.

Thursday, we were able to see Glenda Price and give her the CTR ring we found at Grandpa's Attic.  She almost started crying she was so happy to have one!  She's so sweet.... I'm going to miss her when I leave Kuna.... (let's face reality, one day I'll leave Kuna.)

We got to see Carol Anne on Friday.  We taught her about going to church, praying, and reading the scriptures.  But sadly, she hasn't listened to the CDs we got her yet.  But she's apparently getting internet, so she'll be able to download the Gospel library on her tablet!  YAY!  Now if only we could help her progress....

And Saturday, we saw the Taylors of course.  They're doing awesome, like they normally are doing.  But he didn't come to church this week. :(  Oh well, there's always next week.

We had a busy Sunday.... we started with Ward council for third ward, attended 3rd wards Sacrament Meeting, left early to make it to the Assisted Living home in time for their sacrament meeting to give talks, went back to the church for 10th wards sacrament meeting, taught the 17-year old youth class about how to teach the Plan of Salvation (which, by the way, was THE quietest youth class I have ever been in), and then knocked on doors all night.  Didn't really get in to visit anyone, except dinner.  And that's okay-- we tried. :)

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

Love,

Sister Empey

Feb 9, 2015 - ET no longer means Extra-Terrestrial

So.... this week has been...... exciting, to say the least.

We had exchanges on Tuesday, so I stayed here with Sister Dunkle.  It was fun-- we both have a lot of similar interests, so it was kind of just relaxed.  I didn't feel like I needed to show her what an amazing and top-notch area we have or anything like that.  

We taught the Rasmussens on Tuesday.  It went well.  Both Brother Rasmussen and Tyler committed to reading from the Book of Mormon and praying about it!  That was super exciting. :)

Anyways, so at the end of that night we exchanged back and I got my wonderful Sister Gray back.

.... that didn't last very long.

Wednesday morning, we're getting ready to go to District Meeting when we get a call.  This is how it went:

Me:  This is Sister Empey speaking.

PC: Hello Sister Empey!  This is President Cannon.

(at this point my eyes grew really big)

Me: Hello President Cannon, how are you?

PC: Good!  Look, I actually have a favor to ask you, a special assignment actually, but, can I call you back?  I have to take this call real fast...

Me: Of course!  Of course you can take your call.

PC: That's great, thank you!

And then we hung up.

Sister Gray started laughing, saying that my "assignment" was that I was going to become a Sister Training Leader, and I was simply just dying inside.  what in the world did President Cannon want with me?!

So, he calls back, and asks if I would be okay with an emergency transfer.

Sister Gray looked like she was about ready to cry. 

So we asked for more information.  There had been some conflict up in Fruitland, and so they were wondering if Sister Gray would go up to Fruitland while Sister Paxton would come down to Kuna and stay with me.  As soon as we heard Sister Paxtons name, we knew it would happen.  Sister Gray had trained her, and we had been in the same district in Emmett.

And so it happened.  President picked us up at 3, we went to Fruitland, switched companions, and I came home with Sister Paxton.

Turns out she has family in the ward. :)

We unloaded her stuff from the car and headed straight to dinner with the Merideths.  When we got there, Rachel, the youngest, let us in, and we went to set our stuff down in the living room.  Sister Merideth walked in, and then in shock, said, "Laura!... I mean, Sister Paxton!"  Turns out that Sister Merideth's sister had married one of Sister Paxton's uncle, so they're distantly related. :)  It was a tender mercy for Sister Paxton.

Anyways, the rest of the week was a blur.  I don't even think Thursday and Friday happened, I was sick Saturday (cough, nosebleeds, and all), and gave a talk on Sunday about Humility.

How's that for a week?  Pretty crazy, yeah? :)

I love you, and don't forget that no matter what you go through, you're going through it because the Lord knows it's good for you! :D

Love,

Sister Empey

February 2, 2015 - Great things are coming!

Well, hello. :)  I can't believe that another week has already passed!  Goodness gracious. *whew*

Um.... so..... right.  Last Monday.

The Chestnuts cancelled.  Again. :(  We're hoping that they won't cancel today.  But we went to the Higleys, and did a lesson on goal-setting.  It went really well. :)  I love being with the Higleys.  They're so much fun. :)

And it was a good thing that we did that lesson too-- because the next day we went to zone conference, and it was all about goal-setting!  WAY FOR US TO BE PREPARED!! :D  But we also learned some exciting news:

We're going to have a mission-wide conference at the end of February! :D

Wanna know why?

Elder Neilson of the Seventy is coming, Sister Marriott from the Young Women Presidency is coming....

AND ELDER L. TOM PERRY OF THE QUORUM OF THE TWELVE APOSTLES IS COMING!!!!!!!!!!!! :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D  How exciting is that?!?!  I'm so stinking excited!!!!!!  I remember when I got to shake his hand-- it was when I went to sing for General Conference, and we were waiting under the conference Center.  And Elder Perry walks by and shook all of our hands.  So for me, this is really exciting. :)  It brings back good memories.  I'm really excited. :)  I can't wait until the end of the month!  I'm definitely going to prepare myself spiritually to get the most that I can out of this. :)

Anyways, the rest of Tuesday was good too.  We Visited the Rasmussens, a less-active family of the 3rd ward (one of THREE Rasmussens we have in our are.  And none of them are related.  Awkward.).  Anyways, they're a super cool family.  They know the gospel, and they know that they need to come to church, they just simply aren't coming right now.  But they're going to let us teach them the lessons!  WHOOT!  It's super exciting. :)  They're an awesome family-- and we finally got to meet their 8-year old son, Tyler.  He's funny. :)  He has more energy then he knows what to do with it!!

Wednesday was full of fun opportunities. :)  That morning, I cut and dyed Colleens hair, Sister Lawrences' daughter.  and then that afternoon, we got to go clean up the baptismal font with Sister Taylor!  How awesome is that?!  I never really thought about cleaning out the font, but it totally makes sense.  Anyways, that was super fun and a neat experience.  That night, we went over to Karysma's house, and the cake-off didn't really happen, since only Sister Gray made a cake, but we had fun eating the cake. :)  After that, we went over to Glenda Prices home.  Like I said last week, we were going to start the 12-step program with her, and we're each going to give up something.  So, Sister Gray is giving up coke.  And what am I giving up?.... hair product.  Yup.  The only thing I can use in my hair is shampoo.  What am I thinking?  I don't really know.  I'm on day 5 of no product, and I'm sort of going crazy.  But anyways, Sister Price is very appreciative of the fact that we're willing to do this with her, and I know that going though this will bless her life.  After Sister Price, we were able to go visit  the Schwabs, and set up an appointment to continue the lessons with them. :)  YAY!

On Thursday, after Weekly Planning, we went to the Klemmons, another less-active family in 3rd ward.  They're fun to be around. :)  We invited them to come to church (again), and they committed to come (again).  They didn't come (again).  But that's okay-- we're going to visit them every Thursday now, so they can't escape us now. >:)  sister Klemmon was talking about how exciting she was because James wants to advance in the priesthood.... and when I turned and asked him he was kind of like "eh..... it's sort of my grandma's idea..." haha.  That kid cracks me up.  Good, good kid with a big heart. :)  We also saw the Pfieffers on Thursday.  They're doing good.  No where near taking lessons yet, but they're doing good.

Mmm..... Friday....... is it bad that I can't really remember Friday?  Um....  we had breakfast with the stake president and the other missionaries in the district.  then we had a lesson with the Hellyers.  What started as a discussion on the Priesthood turned into a discussion of coffee.  Ugh.  I really wish that Brother Hellyer would realize that there are other ways to help his health problems than coffee.  No matter what we say, even when we say that we aren't judging him for drinking coffee, he doesn't listen.

... yup.  I don't remember anything else about Friday.  I have stuff highlighted, but I don't remember what happened.

Um.... Saturday.... We saw the Taylors.  Had a good visit with them.  And came home.  Sister Gray had hurt her back.  So we just went out for our one appointment.

And Sunday.  Oh!  SUNDAY!!!  The Schwabs came to church!!!!  But even better!!!!!  We got to teach them Lesson 2 that night!   (Yeah, we got inside a house on Super Bowl night.  MIRACLE!!!)  The lesson went really well-- both Brother Schwab and Zach understood the lesson and really enjoyed it!  They both asked great questions too.  Brother Schwab said that for the first time since he originally took the lessons he understood how the Kingdoms of Glory works. :)  We're hoping that we can invite Zach to be baptized next week. :)  SUPER EXCITING!!!!!!

Anyways, that's it for now.  This week was good, and like I said, there's more good stuff to come. :)

I love y'all!  Keep up your faith! :)

Love,

Sister Empey

Remembering good times with Sister Stevens... :)