Hello!

This week was a little different because of Christmas, but we had a great time!  Talking to Mom and Dad was great!  It was weird to talk about when I'm coming home.  Since I hit my15th month mark on Christmas, everyone seems to think I'm going home soon-- I'm not sure what's up with that! 

We spent this week with a lot of member families and battling some illness, but we're doing better now and excited for another week.  We were able to teach the restoration to a 20 year old kid named Connor who grew up Christian, converted to Judaism, and now claims to be atheist.  He and his mom are just searching for the truth and can't seem to find it.  As we were teaching I could feel how much Heavenly Father loved him and wanted to help calm his confusion.  I hope he'll take to heart the invitation to study the Book of Mormon and pray.  

I know that Heavenly Father loves all His children and that He has a plan for all of us.  I'm so grateful for the Spirit to help us know what that plan is.

This is half of Emily's mission at Zone Conference right before Christmas. Emily is in
the second row almost in the middle wearing a pink sweater and a white shirt.
(If you click on the picture it should enlarge.)

This week was a different one!  We had zone conference and got to watch Frozen (that was weird to be watching a movie, but so much fun!).  We went on exchanges with the Rockwood sisters right afterwards and had a good time.  I found out that Amber decided on Thursdaythat she wanted to be baptized on Saturday and we got permission to go!  She only lives 30 minuntes away from us, so that was exciting :)  Afterwards, President wanted us to go to his house.  One of the sisters in Rogersville had to leave this morning because she got really sick, so President asked Sis Echols to go back for the rest of the transfer (3 and half weeks).  He said he felt bad when he realized that he was taking away my companion again  (he should feel bad!) but then he promised us that he would bring us back together for Sis Echol's last transfer. So I'm going to be in Pellissippi for 7 1/2 months! That's a long time!  That also means that I'm going to spend my last transfer in a new area. That's kind of a bummer, but that's ok too.  I'm sad to see Sis Echols go, but I'm glad that I get to keep Sis Ramon and that Sis Echols is coming back! She'll get to come back for MLC too the first week in January, so that will be fun to see her.

This had definitely been a crazy week, but at the least the lows have been countered by some amazing highs.  Getting to see Amber baptized was a miracle and I'm so grateful that the Lord never gives up on His children and that she let the Spirit into her heart.  

I love you all and I hope we will feel love from our Savior and our Heavenly Father during this special time of year!

Amber's baptism

a bridge in Knoxville

Elder Renlund

The Rubix cube was part of the World's Fair in Knoxville

This week we had a half mission conference with Elder Renlund of the 70.  As always, the Spirit was so strong and I learned a lot.  I was reviewing the notes I took there today and was amazed at how my questions that I had asked before were all answered.  

After the mission conference, we had planned to go finding, and even though it was freezing cold outside, we went.  We prayed that Heavenly Father would bless us. We were trying to be diligent and indeed He did!  We found two new investigators Levi and Scott-- we are excited to teach them!  

Heavenly Father has been blessing us a lot and we are so grateful that He put the three of us together!  I can't think of a better companionship :)

This weekend we helped at a community event honoring the veterans.  While we were there we were able to hand out 24 pass-along cards and help share the gospel to those people.  I am so blessed to know that Christ is the Gift this season! 

putting wreaths on Veteran's graves

Here is Emily's current address if you want to send her a Christmas card: 
Sister Emily Hales
9900 Ardmore Drive
Knoxville, TN 37923
emily.hales@myldsmail.net

Dear Family and Friends,

Hello Hello! 

This week was transfers and a lot of changes happened!  Sis Lee went home, but she seems more resolved about it now.  I heard from her today and she's doing great already :)  I LOVE my new companions Sis Echols and Sis Ramon.  They are wonderful!  Sis Echols and I are training Sis Ramon together, and let me be the first to say that training in a trio is great!  I was so worried and stressed about this transfer, but since the transfer has started, I've just felt so peaceful.  I'm so grateful for Christ's Atonement that gives us strength, peace, and comfort.

Sis Echols is from Orem, Utah and Sis Ramon is from Pohnpei, Micronesia!  She is here waiting for her visa for the Brisbane, Australia Mission.  They told us that they're only moving visa waiters on the transfer, so we get to keep her for at least 6 weeks, which is probably about as long as I'm going to be here anyways.  Sis Echols is sad that I'm not going to "kill her off" in February, but I assure her that her next companion will be great too (just not as great as me ;) )

Sis Ramon has had a hard adjustment to the states and to the food so she has been really sick.  We even had to go to the ER because she was in so much pain (turns out that an ovarian cyst burst).  She seems to get a little bit better each day.  Yesterday she was well enough to go to church, then she had to rest during studies, then we went out that evening for 2 hours, but she ended up throwing up her dinner.  Please keep her in your prayers. 

This week we have our half mission conference with Elder Renlund of the 70 and we are so excited!  It should be a great day! 100 missionaries will all be there.

I love you so much and hope you are enjoying the great Christmas season!  

helping at the Bishop's storehouse

a pretty field by Emily's house

The sisters' gratitude tree

sending Sister Lee home

Emily with her new companions - Sister Echols and Sister Ramon

Hello Everyone!

Sister Lee and I had a great last week together!  It was a little different from our typical weeks with Mission Leadership Council all day Tuesday and Thanksgiving on Thursday and a trip to Rockwood on Friday, but it was wonderful nonetheless. We also go to go to a baptism of the Sharpe kids in the Hardin Valley ward.  I met with them while I was in their ward briefly and they have such a great story.  They live across the street from Bishop Rambo and their daughters were friends.  The Sharpe's knew all the words to "A Child's Prayer" because the Rambo kids would sing it all the time.  The Rambos invited the Sharpes to a ward party and Sis Sharpe asked the missionaries if they could teach her about the church if "they weren't busy."  Sis Sharpe was quickly baptized afterwards in November of 2013.  Her husband took a little longer and was baptized in May of 2014.  He didn't want his kids to be baptized until they really undrestood, but really he still wasnt' sure for himself if the Church was better than his old one.  But with help of the ward and the missionaries for the last year, Bro Sharpe finally felt his kids were ready and was able to baptize them himself on Saturday.  The opening song was "I Love to See the Temple" and when it talked about our families being sealed together, I almost lost it.  Now this wonderful family can go to the temple next summer and be sealed for time and all eternity!  That's been a wonderful miracle to see :)

We had a great Thanksgiving and had so much fun running a 5k! The members were so kind to let us come to their homes and make us feel at home :)  It was a good day!

Yesterday, we went to see a Recent Convert/Less Active-- John who's 17.  He's the only member in his family and he has times where he is super active and really loving the gospel and other times when it is a struggle for him.  But he's doing pretty good right now.  When we were there, his Dad's girlfriend's son, Jalen, was there (also 17) and we taught him the restoration.  He felt the spirit so strongly and committed to be baptized on January 3rd!  It was so exciting!  It's so neat to see people feel the spirit and help them identify what those feelings are! Being a missionary is pretty exciting :)

On Wednesday we are going to be saying goodbye to Sister Lee.  It's been hard for her to leave, but I think she's accepted it now and is excited for this next adventure.  She is going to do great things!  On Wednesday, I'm going to be getting a new companion (I'm pretty sure it'll be Sis Echols) and a brand new missionary that we'll train together!  I am so excited and cannot wait!  

This will definitely be an exciting week!

I Love you all!

 Emily, Sister Lee, and a few other missionaries ran a 5K on Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving with the Groburgs

Eating at Chick-fil-A after district meeting