31-July-2012

Dear Family,

I am so thankful for prayer. Really and truely, it's been the most powerful tool for any missionary. My companion and I last week had a bit of an experiance trying to find a lost key. We were headed out the door just like any other day to go tracting and relized that our key was missing. We had obviously come in with it the night before, but somehow miss-placed it. We searched and searched, tore down the apartment completly and had even tipped over the couches and the key sijmply wasn't there. We decided to pray, and then searched around the apartment again. We had kind of given up at this point and called the mission office searching for a copy when our ward mission leader showed up. He was dropping off an alarm clock for an investigator so that she could wake up for church and noticed that we were a bit stressed out. After explaining our plight, he looked at us and told us that the key was in the living room and that we would find it in the next 5 minutes. He said it a bit teasingly, but after he left we decided to search the living room again.

Geuss where the key was? The key had fallen inbetween the fabric in the couches, after we had turned them down looking for it. There were a few other blessings that came to us from searching for the key. We ended up talking with our  apartment manager and it turned out that the people who had lived there before hadn't let them know that the occupents had changed and that there were now sisters staying there. This was a job that the housing department was in charge of and hadn't yet done. If we hadn't of gone down to the office for a lost key, they never would've known we were there. In short, I am so thankful for the power of prayer and the answers we recieve. Sometimes they are in ways we don't expect, but I know that he will always bless us in our needs individually. The housing situation was taken care of, and we got our key back We were able to move on with work as a usual day.

There are so many great families here in silverton. The grandparents of the first bishop of my greenie area are in my ward here in Silverton. It's a small world! We're teaching a member who recently came back from being less active and we have a reading competition of the book of mormon with her. So far, she's almost done with Alma and was able to get the audio to help her with the reading part. Ever since we've challanged her to read, she's just been so much more happier. Her husband is in prison and he just told her this past week that he wants to be baptised and sealed to her once he is out and his record is cleared. So many more things have happend to her this week and I know its from her reading of the book of mormon that is working the family.

This week for P-Day, I finally got the opportunity to go to downtown portland and to see what they call Pioneer Square and to venture out a place called Voodo Doughnuts. Can you believe that I lived 3 minutes away from downtown and never had the opportunity yet of going? Down-town portland is it's own kind of place. I don't think there is any other place like it. I love to people watch there. We just had fun with the ASL sisters and my new companion and some members from Silverton that were so willing to take us and tour it. It made me miss living in portland a bit, but I'm loving Silverton already.

Can you believe I've almost been out on my mission for a year know? A lot has changed since then and I love being a missionary. It's a hard task at times. Sometimes the door slammed constantly, and have long days without any success. But it's all been so worth it. Last week, we had an investigator drop us. I had never met them personally, but as a companionship as we were praying, I just felt an overwhelming feeling of love for them. They are children of our loving heavenly father and we want so much for the blessing of the gospel in their life, it's hard to see them not accept it.

Today we're going on splits with the N.Marion Sisters- We have Sisters in our district and I actually quiet like that change. It's diffrent, but a really nice break. I love the district that I'm serving with. They're hard workers and there's another Elder that I served with in my last area, so another familar face.

I love you! Don't forget to bring me something from Kentucky when you go!

Love, Sister Embley

23-July-2012

Dear Family,

Happy July 24th!

Such a crazy week it's been!

The past week has been so spiritually filled. We had Zone Confrence with all the missionaries in the area.his wednesday was zone confrence. There is such an incredible spirit when there is a group of Missionaries together and even more when they sing! They've had me play the piano at every event. In some cases, it's very last minute. This one, we sang the primary song Armies of Helaman, not the EFY arrangment. The sound was so powerful. Our focus this time for training was on baptism.they taught us that our focus should be on baptism, and how we can help his children get to that point. So motivating and powerful. They played a clip from Elder Bednar's talk at the MTC, how we as missionaries should never seek credit for ourselves and the work that we have done. We should be about the Lord's buisness.

This is about him and his work, not about us. We have a baptism date with Gwen. She's in her 80's and has made so many changes in her life. One morning, she just woke up and decided not to drink alchohal any more. That had been a constant struggle for her and the Book of Mormon. Now she is so excited for her new life. On the same day of her baptism, we have an apostle coming to the mission. It will be intresting to see which one they send here from Salt Lake- they say he's here on other buisness, but most missions don't even get a visit from them. We've gotten two in the past year. We are so excited to have them here.The week after, we have a mission tour from Elder Coolidge of the 70's. A double dosage all in one week!

Last Monday, we got the great opportunity to go and see Multunumah Falls with the Dunlop Family. There are many diffrent falls you can go and see and hike. It's gorgous there. One of the falls, is the one of the largest falls in the US. There's a standpoint where you can hike up to at the half way point and see both end and begining of the fall. It's just so pretty. Oregon is such a beutiful place. I love the scenery here and the people. It kind of reminds me of an American Amazon sometimes with all of the forest you have here. Someone this past week gave us fried dandelions to try. I think that's been one of the most intresting things that I've eaten so far in oregon. I'm starting to just really love Oregon. I could be happy being a missionary here for the rest of my life.

I geuss the only real new thing to email about is my new companion! Her name is Sister Monson and she's also from Utah:).Transfer Meeting, the spirit was so strong. I had several friends leave this transfer and it has just been the greatest experiance watching them change and grow as they fulfill the priesthood duty by serving. I will miss serving with them. I'm now serving in the Silverton area. I love it so far, I've just never been in an area only for six weeks like my last area. This will be an intresting adjustment, but It will be nice not having to be attatched to my old area. It's in the southern part of oregon, a part I haven't really ventured out to quiet yet. Hopefully we'll be able to go up to see the Silver Falls soon in this area!

I love you!

Sister Embley

Also, I forgot. In my new district, I'm what's called the "pep squad" (cheeleader) which basically, i get to call anyone in the district and motivate them to do missionary work. I may just call and sing to them in the morning for their wake up call every morning. Haha. So, any new ideas you want to send is great! Love, Sister Embley

Happy in the Field!

4th of July

9-July-2012

Dear Family,

Happy late 4th of July! I hope all of you had a great experiance this year. 4th of July as a missionary is just a diffrent experiance.

It really made me more appriciative of the religous freedoms that we have here! Truely, this nation was the only one that was

truely prepared for the restoration and for that I am thankful for! I loved celebrating the 4th here in Oregon! We were invited to

go to a small town of Vernonia, Oregon with a family I hadn't really known previously. They were so excited to have us with,

it was such an adventure! Verniona is a little town of about 2,000 people; maybe even less than that give or take. Their family

reminded me so much of ours. We barbaqued, watched a parade, played games,sang songs, jumped on their trampoline and lit of fireworks.

 They showed us a swimming pool that the town makes in to a swimming hole in the middle of the river. Swimming never looked so

inviting,but we decided to be obediant missionaries and not to hop in. We were allowed to stay out till 10:30 for fireworks this year

(the missionaries last year were allowed to stay out until midnight, and i'm really glad we weren't this year! The next day we

were just so tired just from staying out until 10:30!)

 We had enough time to see some other investigators and families before we

left for vernionia. One of them was an older lady named Gwen. I just love her and her family. She is going to be getting baptised

August 18th, the same day we have a mission tour. She's come such a long way! We're going to go to the Visitor's Center sometime

with her this week. Last lesson, she was telling us about how her family would go and do temple work in Seattle, and they would come

back so tired from all of their sealing work. She was so confused as to why, and thought that they had been working on the "ceilings" in the temple.

Her reaction to that is that the temple must have alot of ceilings!

This week we've been doing alot of tracting and finding and it's been in the 90's. No humidity though, and certainly not as hot as Virginia. They

keep letting us know about the heat waves everyone else is getting. Oregon certainly has intresting weather- one week it's super hot and the

next it's so nice. But back to the work, this last week, we were able to make succesfull contact with someone that the previous missionaries

had tracted into but had never gotten a return appointment with. He's an older african american gentlemen who grew up in the south and

loves to study with diffrent religons. This lesson really strengthened my testimony of tracting! He was impressed that we had just showed up

on his door step, testifying to him and his family of what he keeps calling "the word". He was intrigued and wanted to know more. We taught

him Saturday night and said that he would read. The apostasy made so much sense to him and he accepted the message that we had.

 I love experiances like this as a missionary. So often we just get turned away from going door to door. I hope that him and his family will keep learning.

Sister Peart and I have just had the funniest experiances while tracting this week.A lady turned us down but offered us cookies if we would leave.

We opened one double door to knock on the real door and ended up opening the door to the house. We both started laughing hard and walked as

quietly as we could away. We had a very anti less active man yell at us for coming to his door, asking us why in the world the mormons keep

coming to his door step. Tracting is great fun at times. You never know what kind of reaction you're going to get.

I hope all of you had a fantastic 4th! I love you, Sister Embley