Dear Family,

I have a new companion-- Sister Lee and she is great!  She is so hard working and we are going to do a lot of good things this transfer with Heavenly Father's help!  She is on the last leg of her mission and is going home in two transfers.  I keep killing companions off!  I'm guessing I'll probably stay here the whole time she is and then for a transfer after that, so I'm here for the long haul! 

It's fun to spend all my time in my area and really focus our efforts here.  We were able to find 7 new investigators this week!  What a blessing!  I'm excited to teach them all the gospel!

We had a really good lesson with Bethany and David this week.  Since David was getting ready to go to the temple, we talked a little more about baptisms for the dead and family history.  We showed them the verse in Corinthians that references baptisms for the dead and they both thought that was neat.  Bethany was a lot more open with us tonight than she has been in the past-- it's wonderful to see those walls coming down and that trust being built.  I can just picture David and Bethany being sealed in the temple one day! 

We saw Amber in the beginning of last week and she was doing really well (though we're not sure why she wasn't at church today...)

We got to go to the Tennessee Valley Fair and hand out surveys, just like we did in Abingdon.  It's so fun to be able to talk to so many people! 

I know this is the Lord's work and I love being a missionary for Him!

Emily and Sister Lee handing our surveys at the Tennessee Valley Fair

Dear Family and Friends,

This week has been a good week!  We've had some good lessons with our investigators and have been really blessed.  Transfers are this week and I'll be staying in Pelissippi and getting a new companion on Wednesday.  I'm staying, but I'm loosing Sis Clark and Sis Nelson as my companions :(  I've gotten attached to several of the people we teach in Hardin Valley and I will really miss them.  I am excited to spend all my time and energy in Pellissippi though.  We've been able to keep things afloat with the two areas and I feel that now we'll be able to get things hopping!  We are already so blessed and I can feel that more exciting things are about to happen!

This week we were at John's house and while Amber was helping us chop vegetables for the salad Amber told us that she wants to get baptized by the end of September.  Um, what??? We were all in shock!  She said it was my fault because something I said in my talk last week touched her and she decided to pray and knows that she needs to get baptized.  She went to the baptism the Elders had in the Hardin Valley ward the next day and she was really excited.  I hope that she'll stick with this decision because I know that it will bless her life so much :) 

I am so grateful to be a missionary and for all the wonderful people I have the privilege of meeting.  I'm so grateful to serve here in Tennessee!

 Sisters Nelson, Clark and Hales

 The University of Tennessee's football stadium

 View of Knoxville from the Sunsphere

A beautiful bridge over Knoxville

This week has been a busy, but good one!  We had a great lesson with Amber this week and we are seeing her again tonight.  She and John are reading the Book of Mormon together and she said that she will pray about baptism.  She is great!  

I love working with Sis Nelson and Sis Clark and getting to know the people in Hardin Valley.  It's going to be sad when we aren't companions anymore!  I'm going to miss the people they work with and I'm going to miss spending all day with them, even though we still will be living in the same house (thankfully!).  This wouldn't have been how I would have planned this transfer, but I'm grateful the Lord knows exactly what experiences we need to grow and to learn.  I have learned so much with this experience and I know we are serving together in both areas for a reason.  

Mom, you'll be so proud of me-- I played the piano in church again!  I had the sisters sing "As Sisters in Zion" while I played the arrangement I got in Abingdon.  I love how music brings the Spirit.  

The ward has been calling on us a lot lately to help which is so great!  I'm so grateful they know that they can call us when they are in need.  We got called at 9:30 pm to teach early morning seminary the next morning (I loved it!!) and then I got called Saturday night to give a talk the next Sunday.  I'm so grateful that the Spirit is always there to help us out!  

Life is good!  I hope all is well for you at home :)  

Our first full week of a trio with two areas went pretty well!  I love the chance to get to know and learn from Sis Clark and Sis Nelson better-- they are great missionaries!  We were able to see people in both ward areas and we worked pretty equally in both wards.  Together we were able to teach a good number of lessons, but I hope to be able to increase the lessons taught in both areas this week.

Travis and Felicia and their son Gabe came to church this week and the ward greeted them with lots of love.  It was so good to see!  Felicia even came to our Relief Society activity this week!!  I think once they get married (the date is a surprise, but they should be getting married in the next month or so) then their baptism will follow quickly!

We were finally able to meet up with Amber last night and had a good lesson with her!  She has been coming to church for 2 months now with her friend and she's really thinking about baptism.  She was asking good questions and really is interested.  A member took both of them to the temple (to walk around) and she said it was a really special place.  I'm hoping to set a baptism date for her in our next lesson!  She is great!  It's neat because her friend who's been bringing her to church just started coming back in October.  It's neat to see how both of them are letting the gospel change their lives and helping them become better people and closer friends.

I love this gospel and I'm so grateful for the opportunities we have to grow and change and continually become better and happier people.  This gospel is true!

Dear Family and Friends,

Well this week has been a different week.  There have been lots of changes!  Sis Gotchy switched spots with Sis Reynders because Sis Reynders was sick and needed to be closer to President and hospitals.  But after a few days up here, it was determined that she would go home and recover there.  I said goodbye to two companions in 4 days!  Now I'm in limbo for the next three weeks awaiting transfers for my new companion then.  The Ward has been really supportive and will essentially be my companion as we go out and see the people in the ward.  When I'm not with a sister in the ward, I will be with the Sister missionaries that I live with covering both areas.  This will be a new adventure!

We had zone conference this week and we really saw how President Griffin is the right man to be serving here at this time.  We loved President Irion, but President Griffin will help us continue to grow and progress.  He has a lot of love for us which motivates us to be even better. 

It's been kind of crazy this week, but I know that the Lord is in this work and will help us make everything work. 

Thanks for all your love and support!

Emily with the Knoxville County Mayor

 

Emily got to help serve food at the Knoxville County Mayor's birthday party at the VA

Hello dear family and friends!

 

Life is good in Knoxville!  I'm starting to get a better grip on our area and am meeting all the people here.  I can now drive to the library and to church without the gps and without getting lost! 

 

We met a lot of new investigators this week which has been a blessing!  After a lesson we were heading to our car at 8:45 pm and Sis Gotchy saw a lady outside talking to her kids so we went over.  By the time we got over there, she had walked into her back yard.  We didn't want to be creepy and follow her back there,so we stood awkwardly on her driveway for 30 seconds trying to decide what to do when she came back to the front!  We talked with her and said she would love to talk with us and that she really needed God in her life.  When we back on Sunday to see Alicia, we had a great lesson with her and committed her to be baptized!  She is so prepared for the gospel!  The only problem is that she's moving to another stake on Friday.  So we won't be the ones to get to see her through to baptism, but we're all on God's team working to bring our brothers and sisters back to Christ! 

There's a part member family--Travis and Felicia--that missionaries have been working with since at least November.  They are moving slowly, but are still progressing.  We had a good lesson with them and their kids-- Isis, Tristin, and Gabe.  The kids are so ready!  Their parents are coming along too :)   They are having a hard time setting a date for baptism, but we talk about it all the time and it's something they really want to do so they can be sealed one day.  They came to church this Sunday for the first time in a few months!!! They only stayed for sacrament meeting, but baby steps are good!  I have a good feeling about this family and know that once they get everything sorted out, they will be a strong family in the gospel and great influence for good. 

I know that Heavenly Father is in the details of our lives and that He loves all of us, His children, unconditionally.  I'm so grateful for the gospel and for the chance I have to share it with others!

Emily's new place in the Pellissippi area of Knoxville

The porch of her new place

Reading scriptures on the back of a truck

I love my new area!  I'm back in Knoxville in the Pellissippi ward.  My companion is Sis Gotchy and she goes home in 6 weeks so I need to work hard to figure everything out soon!  Sis Gotchy is wonderful!  I love her!  We have already had so many miracles in finding people this last week.  This is going to be a wonderful transfer! 

There are so many new people to talk about, and I just don't have time!  But there are lots of great people who have been prepared to receive the gospel right now.  We feel so blessed!  I really want Sis Gotchy's last transfer to be a great one so we are working really hard and feeling the Lord's hand guiding us.  I know that this transfer was inspired and that I'm supposed to be here.  I love being a missionary!

District in Abingdon

Gospel Principal's class in Abingdon

Emily, HG and Sister Cox