Hello Everyone!

We've had another full week of missionary work!  We got to attend the transfer meeting (even though we weren't getting transferred)-- another perk of living so close to everything!  It was so fun to see everyone!  Sis Peck and Sis Paxton-- 2 of my trainers-- both went home this transfer.  It was fun to talk with both of them!  I got to see Sis Little and Sis Cox and Sis Husted also!  All of my companions who are still in the field were there!  It was great to see everyone :) 

This Sunday Travis and Felicia and their family came to church for the second week in a row.  That was a miracle!  Sis Hileman came for the first time all year, and Julie K came for the first time in forever!  It was such an answer to prayer.  It was great to see how the ward just welcomed everyone with open arms and just loved and welcomed them unconditionally.  It was the Primary program and everyone who came just ate it up. The kids bore such sweet testimony of why families are such an important part of the gospel. It was really sweet and the Spirit was really strong. 

I am so grateful for prayer and how Heavenly Father answers our prayers.  It's amazing that the most powerful being in the universe wants to talk to us and bless us because He loves us all.  It's such a blessing.  

I'm grateful for my wonderful family and friends. Thanks for all your love and prayers!

Emily and her companion came across this tombstone and thought the last name was very interesting.

helping Sister Griffin get ready for the new missionaries

Hello everyone!

Fall is in the air!  Well, about half the time anyways ;)  But summer is officially gone and we are not sweating all the time!  The leaves are slowly starting to turn and we are all anxiously awaiting the day the leaves decide to not be green anymore!  Knoxville is a beautiful place and has gorgeous skies.  Everyday we are caught off guard by how beautiful the sky is!  It's different everyday too!  I'm glad I get to serve in such a beautiful place!

This week we got to go on exchanges with the sisters we live with and had a blast!  It was fun to serve with Sis Nelson again!  We got news that she is being transferred this week and we will definitely miss her.  However, she got called as a new sister training leader so I will get to see her every month!  I knew all the sisters who got called as new STLs so it'll be fun to know more people at the next MLC!  

While on exchange we were walking home and it was starting to get dark. I could faintly see a man walking across the street and before I know what I'm doing, I holler at him and he comes over to talk to us and he invites us back!  It was definitely the spirit that talked to him because I normally do not talk to random strangers on dark roads at night.  The crazy things you do as missionaries!  But we went over and taught him and his wife the restoration and we had a really good lesson with them.  He is very open to learning more!  He committed to study and pray about the Book of Mormon!  But his wife is a little more reserved and doesn't quite see a need for more scripture, but she said that she will try to have an open mind.  I see a lot of potential for their family!  

It's great to see how Heavenly Father helps us in all phases of the work!  

I love you all!

Emily went to the Knoxville art museum with some of the sisters in her zone last P-Day.

This is the Mona Lisa made out of spools of thread.

Emily and Sister Lee

Sister Lee with the Google maps car

Hello Everyone!

 

This week has been a busy one!  We've had a lot to do which is good and tiring.  I am reminded how important a day of rest is.  Equally important is spending the rest of our time working hard!  Lately, a lot of people have been dropping us which is sad, but Heavenly Father's been blessing us with more people to teach.  On Monday we had a really powerful restoration lesson with Sheryl, the daughter of an inactive member.  During general conference, a theme that stuck out to me was trusting in the Lord even when we don't fully understand.  Logically, we should have given up on Sheryl a long time ago, but for some reason, we kept trying to see her.  Now we can see that was the Spirit pushing us in her direction because she has been so prepared.  The Spirit was so strong and she said that she has only felt that way a handful of times in her life.  She committed to be baptized and is excited to learn more!  I can't wait to continue teaching her! 

 

I was able to attend Mission Leadership Council this week, and it was great to be able to learn from President Griffin.  You can tell that he wants to do whatever the Lord tells him and that he wants to help us be the best missionaries we can be.  It was a good meeting. 

 

Chuck came to church this week!  He loved that the kids were all in the service with the adults.  He's still struggling to decide if he wants to change or not-- he often tells us he's too old to change (he's 86!)  but he's so close to realizing that the gospel is true, we don't want to give up on him. Change is always hard, especially when you are comfortable.  But as Alma tells us, it's better to humble ourselves instead of waiting to be compelled to be humble.

 

The leaves are starting to change slowly and we are excited for the day when all the leaves will be fall colors!  But I'm just enjoying the beautiful weather for now-- I'm not a fan of the cold! 

 

I love you all and thanks for everything you do!

 

Sister Hales

Dear Family and friends,

This week was a good one!  We went on exchanges with the West Hills sisters this week and it was so fun to go back to my old area!  I got to see some old friends and make some new ones.  It was neat to see families I worked with progressing in the gospel.  They have a light in their lives, they are happier, and they are sharing the gospel with others too! The gospel truly blesses families :)

We had another lesson with Kim this week and she's doing really well.  She needs the blessings of the gospel in her family right now and is slowly finding that peace and comfort as she continues to learn more.  On Tuesday evening she and her 17 year old daughter received priesthood blessings to help her as she's going through this divorce.  The spirit was so strong! 

We were finally able to talk with a referral-- Glenda-- for more than 5 minutes this week!  It was great to see how the spirit was softening her heart as we spoke and explained what we do.  I'm excited to meet with her again and continue to watch her life come in even closer alignment to Christ's gospel!

This week as we were driving we decided to divert our plans and stop by Ronnie and Casey's house.  They are hardly ever home and the one time they were, they didn't seem too receptive.  But this time was different.  Ronnie's father had just passed away and he said he really wanted to talk with us.  Knowing that you helped answer someone's prayer is such a good feeling.  It's very humbling and makes you realize the importance of following the smallest promptings even when you don't understand them completely.  We were able to meet with them again and they said they're going to start coming to church (Ronnie's a member and Casey is not) and Casey said that she wants to learn more!  If it's true, she said she'd be baptized!  With some people you can just see how much happier and better their lives will be if they live the gospel and I know there are so many blessings in store for them as they continue to make changes in their lives! 

Conference was just the icing on top of a great week!  As we watched one of the sessions with our 86 year old investigator, Chuck, so many of his questions were answered!  He even accused us of calling Salt Lake and requesting those topics!  It is amazing how Heavenly Father answers all the prayers of his children :) 

Sister Hales and Sister Lee

The sisters in Emily's zone all met for a picnic lunch.