December 27, 2010

Hey Family! oh man it was so awesome to see you guys!! its alright that you guys got emotional... it was good for me i have been holding in some tears for a while now so it was good to get those out. you guys all look really good too! all of you look different since the last time i saw you! it was crazy... i am so glad they let us skype that was a wonderful Christmas gift to see you all... even though it has only been almost eight months it feels like it has been forever.
>
> everyone that was there looked different... thank you for letting them all come over and say hi... that was awesome... for some reason skee looked th most different out of the extended family... and Brash i thought looked the most different out of our family...
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> sounds like for the most part all of you are doing great... i am so glad you read the scriptures... i wish i would have been more focused when i was in seminary and i wish i would have prepared myself better...but i didnt... i am happy that the other kids see teh importance of it it really does make me happy! you will have to tell me how reading the introduction and doing what it says turns out for you guys... cause like i said i never did that before the mission... actually i am not even sure i knew there was an introduction to the Book of Mormon... i never told you what scripture made known to me that the book is true and that Jesus is the Christ... it is 2nephi 8:15 and when i got to that verse i was no longer reading... it was speaking to me... and i know because of that... that the lord wants us to find the right path to follow and that verse wouldnt have spoken to me if i wasnt suppose to follow the teaching of the Book of Mormon. so dont forget to do that ok?
> Yesterday in sacrament meeting the 1st counselor asked us to get up and bear our testimonies... it was like last second... i was way nervous. i got up and shared my testimony about missionary work and about how i have a testimony of every member a missionary... i sharede a quick story and then testified... i have never had so many compliments on a testimony before... i think it was exactly what the ward needed to hear to get them a little more excited about being missionaries themselves. it was a pretty good day besides that... i enjoyed it.
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> well thats about it for today... i miss you guys so much and i hope you have a fun rest of your break... i love you very very much. and i am so thankful for being able to talk to you all this past week... i love you!
> Love Elder Emery

December 20, 2010

Hey Everyone... hows it going??

Things are going alright for me.... the news is.... i.... am.... still... in....La Crescenta.... and... i...am....still... with.... Elder Campbell.........

Yeah we stayed the same and i am not really sure why. i thought for sure Elder Campbell would get the boot, but we are still together. my feelings about it... no comment i will talk to you about things on Saturday.... its alot easier to express whats on your mind when you can actually talk to them instead of e-mail.

I guess President was inspired to leave us together for another Transfer... i am still surprised that one of us didnt leave... Most of our Zone stayed the same.. i am ok with that because i like alot of the people in it. i am not going to lie though... i cant wait till January 31... thats the next transfer.

This week was pretty good.. well i take that back... it was on a scale of 1 to 10 probably about a 4.5... let me explain. It has been raining really hard the past few days... our area is really hard to find people, because nobody is home and nobody walks the streets because of the hills. Put those two together and there is absolutely nobody around, and add the fact that Christmas is just around the corner so people are going out of town... :( makes things really hard... its ok though we are making things work.

There were a few baptisms that happened this past week... there was a family that i taught twice on exchanges and they asked me if i would come and be a witness at their Baptism yesterday... so i got to witness a family of four baptisms yesterday... it was such a cool Baptism... they were all very happy and excited to be baptized... it was really neat. i was really happy they invited me to come do that for them... it really shows me that i need to always be doing my best because you never know who is watching... i know you guys have told me that before and i really do understand that.

Saturday at 8? like pm right? that should work for me i am really excited to talk to you guys i have so much to say and i just want to be able to tell everything... ya know what i mean... its been my whole mission so far and i really havent been able to tell you guys everything. you should write questions down that you hav so you can ask me on the phone sound good?? i will do the same! i really cant wait!!!

i did receive the packages this past week and i am excited about those also! no i have not opened them yet... i will wait till Saturday!

i am sending my package to you guys today right after i leave here so i can get it to you by Christmas... When you get it.... You can NOT open it until Christmas ok?? Christmas Day you can open it... that is our deal or i wont send it :) sound good? Great!

Mom i sure hope you get better... i actually have been sick for the last 4 days about... it really makes things hard. i am feeling better though so everything is good with me! i cant wait to talk to you guys this Saturday... i am Excited!!

Yesterday in Sacrament meeting it was the Christmas program and i was sitting there just kind of thinking about home a little bit and how i still have a long time till i come home... the thought came to me Our Heavenly Father sent his son... i started thinking about that a little bit. Our Heavenly Father set his Son Jesus Christ away for 33 or so years... i cant remember how old he was. He sent him away knowing exactly what needed to take place and what was going to happen... i have been asked to go away for 2 years... it was kind of like a smack in the face... its true though... i went away not knowing what was going to happen and i am still doing good.

so there was my thought for the day... i love you guys so much and i am excited for Saturday!!

Love and miss everyone of you...

Love Elder Emery

December 13, 2010

Hey Guys!!! sounds like things seem to be going well!

This past week it has been in the 70's.... yesterday it was 81 degrees!!! can yoiu believe that ?? it definitely doesnt feel like Christmas.

To start off i just want to say that i am not going to be very happy if Brashers Letter did not get there... dangit! i will re-address what i said in it in his birthday letter... i didnt get dads letter off either this past week but they will be there by the end of this week. that kind of frustrates me.

Holy Cow on the Christmas card... at first i really wasnt paying attention when i pressed the button, but then i stopped everyhing and realized what was going on. That was one of the coolest cards ever!!! it was so weird to hear your voices... you all sound a little different. thank you though i have listened to it a couple times and it is just as good every time i hear it! thanks.

It is kind of funny to hear about Brash counting the presents... i can totally see him doing that, but you are right... there are people that dont even get a single thing. Brash you need to be happy for what you have i see people all the time that dont even have a home to live in... you should have mom read you the talk from the Prophet this past conference on Gratitude :). Sounds like you are doing good in Basketball... keep working hard and you will have to tell me all about it on Christmas. Did Quincie adn Jensen get there letter this past week??

Mom you are pretty funny about the Pass along card thing... i know i have sent some cards home to you all... have you given those out yet?? maybe i will send you a pack of 100 sound good?

i have never heard of that 21 thing you were talking about... i am not sure what that is... you will have to inform me on Christmas. Speaking of Christmas... i dont care what time i call... so whatever time works for you just let me know next week and i will make sure to stay open for that time... yeah i guess we can only talk for 45 min... it bugs me Pres Pike is cracking down on us and i dont really like it at all... there are so many rules its un real... i will talk more about that on Christmas.

Not alot happened this week... things are going a little slow, but we are starting to pick up some more less actives! The ward is actually acting nice to us... must be something to do with Christmas... we are using it to our advantage. last week within 2 days we heard from 4 random people that our Ward is Mean... that makes things really hard when we knock on someones door and they say " i was investigating your church not too long ago and your ward is not very nice." ha what am i suppose to say to that when i agree with that person... the only thing i can say is " the church is true... the people arent!" haha just joking!

so about transfers.. we find out on Saturday if we are staying or going... i really dont know what i want to happen. we will see on saturday i guess.

The package i am sending home cant be sent until saturday also... and i will put my cf card in it also... and yes i still have both of them. i havent taken many pictures lately, but i do have a few... i will try and take a couple more before i send it.

How is the work coming dad? are things going well? i hope so... i pray for you all the time so that you will have the power and knowledge to make thes sales! i hope all goes well! new phone? i saw it said it sent from your blackberry.

sorry that i dont have much to say, but i do thank you guys for everything... i am very excited for Christmas... i think we have a couple things set up for that day, but besides that we are just going to be doing what we do!

Love you guys... and i think about you everyday... there is not a day that goes by that i dont think about you all!!

Love you

Love Elder Emery

December 6 2010

Hey Guys!! Merry Early Christmas... it is a little early but it is coming up quick!

Alright to start off first.... about Brash. i sent him a letter last week i think it will get to him today or tomorrow, and i am hoping that it will get him a little more excited about school and to also bring his grades up. it is a little bribe, but i figured it will be worth a try to try and get him back into enjoying school i do pray fro him and you guys also... i hope you will be able to figure him out.

Sounds like today is a busy day... grandpa sent me a letter and told me about the party that would be today.... can you believe this is the second year i will be missing this?? it is crazy, because last year i was down at school. the same with nana's party... she sent me a card with money in it.. it was very nice!

i can already see the blessings from your prayers... Brendon accepted to be baptized on December 19th... the only problem is his mom was just baptized and since he wasnt baptized at teh same time as her, because he is eight it is a ward baptism, so we had to move it to january 8th because that is stake baptism day... so that part is kind of lame, but we are very excited that he is making tis choice to be baptized!!! We took a man on a tour on tuesday... he is an older singe man who likes our church (he has been a few times) he accepted to bebaptized at the end of January!!! he will be in oregon until january 18th, but he said when he gets back he would like to be baptized!! There is this part member family there is 5 of them... the dad is not a member the wife is the oldest daughter is and the two youngest are not baptized.... they invited us over to teach the middle child... her name is phoebe. she is eight, and the parents want to make sure that she is getting baptized for the right reasons. the last missionaries that taught her.. the parents didnt like the way they were teaching adn so they told them not to come back... we got a return appointment... we must have been doing something right eh?? And then there is another family with the same situation who we are going to be doing the same thing with!!! it was a pretty good week! i felt like we did get alot done!

Thank you so much for your prayers you guys are the best!

Oh... everyone will be receiving a post card kind of thing of a couple of us missionaries... hahah they are awesome pictures... you guys will get a good laugh i bet!

Dad with the garage all i have dto say is... WOW. hahah sorry i definitely have to laugh about that... i dont understand how that is possible because isnt there like a beeping noise that goes off when something is behind you??hahahahaha that is pretty funny though i had to laugh a little!

last week on Monday we were playing basket ball and i hurt my hand... it was nothign to bad jsut a sprain. i went and got it x-rayed and the doctor told me that from a previous injury i had to fragments of bonde sitting around my joint... i was like whaaa??? isnt that crazy? i dont think there is anything that they can do about it.... it is getting better though so i am not worried. what i am worried about is my kidneys. my urine has been really murky lately ... on and off, but i dont know what to do. i am alright for right now , so i can just talk more about this with you on Christmas.

Something interesting i read this week was in Jacob 4:9-10. i would highly reccomend reading this, because it is just letting us kno that God can do anything.... and we dont need to be trying to counsel him on things, but we need to take his counsel and figure out why he puts us in so many different situations... i really enjoyed it!

Well family i have got to be going... i wish i was home, becasue it doesnt even feel like Chirstmas... it feels like spring and i dont like it at all!, but anyway i love you guys so much and really appreciate all you do... have fun at the Chirstmas party!! Love you guys i will get the girls there letter this week and also the package i am sending home!!

Happy Birthday DAD!!!!

Love Elder Emery