I am getting transferred this week :(  I'm definitely having bitter sweet feelings.  I love Abingdon, and I'm really going to miss all the wonderful people I have met here.  But I know that the Lord will send me where He needs me, and I'm looking forward to seeing what my next assignment will be!

In honor of pioneer day we watched Legacy-- twice!  (It is Sister Cox's favorite movie that we are allowed to watch right now!)  I am so grateful for all the faithful saints who sacrificed so much for the gospel.  It helps strengthen my testimony as well. 

Here's a miracle we saw this week:  We taught Sid the restoration and we were a little nervous about extending a baptism commitment since he had expressed frustration with previous missionaries shoving baptism down his throat a year ago (which is why he stopped taking the lessons).  But we invited him anyways as the Spirit prompted and he said he'd join if he found out it was true!  He reads from the Book of Mormon and loves it!  When we met with him again, he told us that he told his friend Shawn (who referred him to us) that he was planning on getting baptized in the near future!  We set a date of September 13th to prepare for.  He has some word of wisdom concerns to overcome, but if he puts his mind to it, nothing's impossible with the Lord's help!  

We celebrated another holiday this week-- Christmas in July!  When we got home on the 24th we pulled out the Christmas tree that was under the stairs and set it up in our living room.  I thought it would be way fun to sleep under the tree so we dragged our mattress down the stairs (looking back, it would have been easier to just take the tree upstairs... oh well!).  We listened to Christmas music while making ornaments for our tree.  It was so much fun!!! On the 25th I read the Christmas story in Luke, and got to play Christmas songs in district meeting. Even though it was kind of goofy, every time I hear Christmas music, the spirit of Christ comes so strongly.  It was great to spend some time remembering the birth of our Savior.  

I love you all! The next time you hear from me, I'll be in my new area!  Here's to new adventures and new friends!  

This has been a pretty typical missionary week, but a good one nonetheless! 

Brother Gestewitz decided to start a Book of Mormon study group at the church on Wednesday nights and our first class was a hit!  Brother Joyce is FINALLY starting to really read the Book of Mormon and loves it.  It's so neat to hear him ask questions that show that he really gets it!

We got a referral from a member last week to teach his friend Sid.  Sid is a character (but everyone in the south is!).  After our first lesson we invited him to read from the Book of Mormon and were hopeful that he'd read.  He called us later to reschedule our next lesson because he was sick, but said he loved the chapter we left and asked if there was anything else he should read.

 We gave him a few more chapters and are excited to see him again soon! 

At district meeting this week, the AP's brought up some packages that were at the mission office and much to my surprise, one of them was for me!  Whoever sent me chocolate covered cinnamon bears, THANK YOU SO MUCH!!  What a great surprise! 

Missionary work is wonderful-- I love serving the Lord!

Emily and Sister Cox at Hidden Valley Lake 

Here's a quick update on the area-- Bro Songer has been blessing the sacrament every week for the past 3 or 4 weeks!  He's doing well :)  They are going to try and come to the temple to do baptisms on August 16th!  They also have their recommend for their patriarchal blessings and are excited to get those soon.  

 We're shrinking! Another family is moving out in a month. Marion Branch is bigger than Abingdon ward!  Just more opportunities to serve! 

Sis Joyce is teaching the 11 year old girls, Bro Joyce is going home teaching for the first time this week and is a little scared, but willing to go!  The Joyce family has been reading The Book of Mormon!  Marsha was reading about Nephi's prophecies about America and she thought it was so cool!  Bro Joyce was reading the tree of life and thought it was awesome.  He's really grasping the gospel which is wonderful!  I know that the Book of Mormon is true and can change our lives!  

We don't have any exciting new investigators at the moment, but I know the Lord will put someone in our path soon!  

We had exchanges this week and I went with Sister Schwab-- she is great!  She is such a great example of talking to everyone, being optimistic, following the Spirit, and praying with sincerity.  There were a few times that our plans fell through, but we were able to help someone else out who we hadn't planned on seeing, but who needed our help.  It's great to be instruments in the Lord's hand!  

I love you all and hope you have a great week! 

Our 4th of July wasn't too eventful, but it was a good day :)  We made patriotic chocolate dipped strawberries -- red strawberries, white chocolate, and blue sprinkles with Chandler.  It was delicious!  Then we went to Beverly's house for dinner and we had permission to watch fireworks as long as we were home by 10:30.  So we drove through the crowds of cars, watched fireworks for 15 minutes and left early to be home on time. 

HG is doing really well-- he loves to tease us!  He tells Sis Cox (my companion) before we get in the car to leave that he's praying for her since I'm driving! He just got the priesthood on Sunday and he's so excited to bless and pass the sacrament.  Every time we see him he practices reading the prayer.  It's wonderful to see how excited he is about the gospel!

Hello! 

This week ended on a great note-- HG Fouse Jr. got baptized!  We met him at "Greendale home for the aged" and he started asking us all these questions so we started teaching him the gospel and one month to the day of our first lesson, he was baptized.  He has so much faith!  The baptism was a spiritual event as well as the confirmation the next day.  There weren't very many people there, but everyone who came was so kind and loving toward HG. 

The person who was going to give the talk about the Holy Ghost forgot to come so Sister Cox stepped up and gave a great talk.  That morning during companionship study, we couldn't decide what we wanted to role play, so we drew from a jar that has all the principles in preach my gospel.  Tiffany pulled out the gift of the Holy Ghost.  If that isn't a sign that God is aware of us and what's going to happen in our lives, I don't know what is!  It was so neat to see Sis Cox up there so calm and collected bearing her testimony and teaching the gospel.  She has grown so much since she's been here! 

On a sad note, our ward mission leader is moving out to Utah today so we got to help their family clean their house as they are getting ready to head out.  I'm still in denial-- I'm pretty sure I'll see them at church next week (I wish!).  But our new ward mission leader is Bro Gestewitz who has helped us a lot with the Joyce family.  I am really excited to work with him!  I hope the change will help shake things up in Abingdon and help us continue to progress the work. 

I always love attending baptisms for several reasons.  1- I always feel  part of the love that Heavenly Father has for His children and how happy He is that they  made this important first step.  2- it reminds me how grateful I am that I was baptized into Christ's church and for all the blessings His gospel has given in my life.  3- My testimony is always strengthened that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints really is Christ's original church brought back to the Earth in its fullness and it shows us the way to return to live with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and our families for eternity.  I know that this gospel is true and I love having the opportunity to share that with people! 

Sister Cox, HG, and Sister Hales