12-Feb-2013

Family, 

I will be home in one week! Get excited. And I'll just tell you about my week then. Love you! Sister Embley:) 

5-Feb-2013

Dear Family, 

It's really hard for me to believe that I'm coming home in 2 weeks. Time flies when you're working hard and doing the right thing. 

Everyone keeps asking me what I'm going to do when I come home....and I have some ideas, but I think I'll let that be flexible. I 

know that It will all work out how it's supposed to be and blessings will come from serving this mission. Last week we had our 

departing temple trip with all of the departing missionaries with President and Sister Morby. We go to the temple session together, 

including a luncheon and a picture with everyone. President talked with us about our temple attendance after we go home from 

the mission and how important it us for us to consistantly go. The next step is the departing party at the mission home...that will 

be the night of transfers. All of us stay at the mission home for dinner and a testimony meeting, then the next morning we all fly out:)

I have my departing interview tomorrow which should be a great experiance:)

 In the mission field, Miracles are starting to happen because of our hard work. We taught more than a handful of lessons this week 

mostly through tracting, others from set appointments. One of the appointments, the investigator had another friend over who had never heard 

of the church before. It was just funny to us because during the lesson, the investigator was super involved in helping us explain 

the story of Joseph Smith to her friend. When It got to the normal recitation of the sacred grove, the spirit was really strong and 

we knew that both of them had been touched by it. I love the signed version of this because it is visual and clear. You can't deny 

the power of the spirit that comes through that story and not be touched in some way. 

We finally made contact with some other potential and former investigators. One of them has very little vocab and is almost complete acting.

He loves the missionaries and it was a little funny trying to explain why we couldn't come inside his house or where the other missionaries 

went that were there before, but we finally figured it out and he finally got it. He's super funny and reminds me of a hobbit looks like. 

I think I'm finally starting to understand this language. It is a constant piece of work, but I have to remind myself constantly that ASL 

is not something that you can learn all at once. But the gift of tongues is real, and it's helping me understand more everyday. That is a miracle to me:)

We've been having some really great P-Days for my last couple weeks. We went to OMSI with a Recent Convert and Branch Missionary, then to the 

Coast with Sister Plock. It was so fun to go and to just play for the day with my favorite people. Last week we headed out to 

Gresham to be with the Gresham Sisters. It was a bit of an unoffical Sister's activity, but it was so much fun. My last pday I think we will head over to Gresham again to be with them or have a combined P-Day with the Gresham Zone. I love being close to other Sister Missionaries, I think it's a nice break from being with Elders all the time. One of the Sisters serving in Gresham served with me in the Kiezer Zone, so we're serving close together but not as close as last time. It's just fun to be with other missionaries.We're still doing Language Study with Reuban's family, we have another round of that tonight along with another lesson with some recent converts. We're reallybusy lately with things, and I'm so happy that things are starting to pick up so soon to Transfers.

Oh. And once last funny bit before we have to run. One night this past week we came home to an eviction notice on our door saying that we had to be out in 13 days. Someone had forgot to pay rent or our lease was up. So we're waiting to hear back from them if we're moving two weeks before transfers or not. Hopefully, we won't have to worry about it because there is just so much stuff from other missionaries in our apartment, but we'll see what happens. We think they have been wanting us to move for a while now because of the location, but the location is normal for us. North East Portland is and has always been a little sketch for Sisters, but if you are doing the right thing and you are were you are supposed to be, it shouldn't be to much of a worry. But we keep getting calls and messages asking if we feel safe to stay here. It's the safest place we could be right now, I just think it is funny how no one has really informed us of if we are leaving or not. They will probably just have to renew the lease again, which shouldn't be that big of a deal. 

Anyway, 

I love all of you and look forward to seeing you in two weeks. It's your last chance to write me mail, so write away and I'll see you on the 19th.

Love, Sister Embley

15-Jan-2013

Dear Family,

Like always, we have just been working so hard this past week. Bragging rights of the week, we were able to accomplish 42 hours of work this week. Which means, we recieved 22 hours of tracting, and all the other hours were lessons and lessons found through tracting. The Standerd of Excellence in the Oregon Portland Mission is 20 hours of work in one week,  Zone Leaders with two areas typically  recieve 30 or 40 on a good week. With all this hard work, we've witnessed so many miracles starting to happen through our efforts of work. We still have no investigators in the deaf branch- that's a constant pull of things we need to work on, but we have witnessed just being in the right place at the right time to find those investigators. 

Sister Furnell and I were out tracting last week in a trailer park area, and instead of knocking on all the doors like we normally do, we felt as though we should go and talk to the children playing soccer in the street to ask them if they knew of anyone who was deaf here. We had already checked all the doorbells for indecation that a deaf person did live there, and nothing came up for us. But a prompting came to talk to the children, and we did. They readily answered that yes, there was a deaf person living in that complex at a house that we had just passed by. We quickly walked up to the trailer and without evening knocking the door, the woman looked through the window and saw us coming and invited us back. That day, we literally had no appointments and so this was a tender mercy for us both. 

Another deaf woman refered us to her friend who accepted our invitation to learn about the gospel, but no set appointment yet. 

We've also been trying to save our miles because of trips that need to be taken this month in far off places, so we decided to ride the max (the train) and bus all day to talk to people about the gospel, and to get to our one appointment in Beaverton that night. Portland is just an intresting place to be riding on the train everywhere, espically as you get closer to downtown Portland. Our morning definitly started out as an adventure....We ran into the same lady twice, both of us had gotten on the wrong train and were trying to find our way with getting lost. We started to talk with her about the family, and found that she had some great LDS neighbors in Arizona that had talked with her about the Church a couple years before. Thankfully, we both found the destination we wanted and before we both got off the train we were able to talk with her about the basic things we did believe in and how we knew that could bless her life. 

Our appointment in Beaverton was a disapointment to us. The lady that we were going to teach never showed up, so we ended up sitting out in the freezing cold for a bit to wait to see if she would come, so we just ate our dinners outside of her house waiting for a bit and just laughed at the whole situation. It was such a fun picnic to have in the bitter cold. She never showed up, so we went to deaf starbucks to contact more deaf and ended up contacting a less active member and then catching the bus home to make it back to portland on time. Such a fun adventure. Riding the train here is definitly a fun way to meet and contact more people to learn about the gospel. 

Saturday, I got the opportunity to go to a baptism down in my old Area of Silverton. It was so nice to be able to go back and see Jennifer get baptised! Her adopted Mom, Daelene has such a powerful testimony of the gospel that has helped her daughter and her husband get more involved in the church. The man that spoke said something about how with Baptism, it isn't a middle ground decesion in this gospel. You have to either be in it with your two feet fully, or not at all. It's the gate to more blessings to come for that family. The mother after was asked to share her testimony along with her daughter, and bore just a simple testimony of what the spirit is. She had fallen away from the church and had talked about how the spirit is what pulled her to come back. It is something so powerful that will always be with us to guide us to the light and right source. 

Tonight we're having Language Study with Reuban's family again. They are taking the discussions from the Spanish Elders and we're just helping bridge the gap with the Language. I can't imagine being in such a multi language home with ASL, spanish and English. They barely speak any ASL and much less can communicate.  We're excited to have the opportunity to work with them and help bring their family closer to christ.

There was one last lesson that I just felt inspired by that we taught this past week about goals for the New Years. We've been having people write down goals and helping them in their commitment to the gospel. In one lesson we taught, the deaf woman said that her goal in life is to live with her Heavenly Father again. She really wants to go to the temple and to experiance that joy and peace through that experiance. I know that all goals require action, and the one way we can accomplish that goal is through the temple. 

We have zone training this week, and it's snowed off and on this week. Not really sure what's up with the weather, but It's definitly better than it pouring rain:)

I love all of you. Sister Embley

3-Jan-2013

Dear Family, 

Well, I think I've had a pretty great week. Last week, we were able to get 19 plus finding hours, and this week I recieved food poisoning from 

some unknown source, but now have fully recovered thanks to the wonderful priesthood holders and to many hours of just being sick.

 Every week as a missionary can be so different. One minute we're celebrating a holiday and the next we're out teaching and working our hearts out, 

and then the next we're struck with a sickness of sorts. But that's what I love so much about being a missionary.

 Some days, you never know what to expect; espically when you're out tracting in the cold and wet rain of Oregon.

New Years Eve we couldn't prosolyte so we spent dinner with some members and taught a lesson on goals. I love the holidays as a missionary. 

We really do get spoiled in the branch. It's hard to believe that I'm coming home so soon. We have transfers calls coming up this Saturday, and 

I think we are both staying, it's just weird for me to think that the next transfer meeting after that I'll be coming home, instead of being transferd 

to a New area and on to a new experience with the work. I love being a missionary. Sometimes, It is a constant struggle just to make everything

 balance. To work as hard as you can think and still find no one that wants to hear the gospel, and then to come home completely exhausted after an

extremley long day. Only then to turn around and do the same thing the next, but It's all so very rewarding in the end; even if we didn't find anyone new 

to teach. All things can truly be overcome through Jesus Christ. That is the most essential thing I've learned as I've grown as a missionary, and have had

the great privilidge of watching Investigators grow to fully accept him and his will through the Atonement. 

I hope all of you have had such a great holiday as mine. I know that we had a blast being with families from the branch for both days!

Tomorrow we have deaf starbucks which means we are headed out to Washington. We're all over the place, it's kind of fun not being just in one area. 

I feel like I've really seen the mission, going from state to state each week. Deaf Starbucks is another intresting thing- It's a deaf night for students and 

the deaf to gather and mingle with each other. A lot of PCC students go for assignments for their ASL tutoring, and a lot of deaf go just to mingle with 

the deaf. It's a totally different atmosphere that I've ever been in, that's for sure. 

Anyway, I love all of you and hope to hear from all of you soon. 

Love, Sister Embley

Christmas Pictures

11-Dec-2012

Dear Family, 
If there's one thing that I love about being a missionary, I think it would be the constant reminder that he (God)
really does answer prayers. It's an everyday occurrence and every time he reminds me how much he loves me 
and that the more specific our prayers are, the more specific answers we will receive. These past two weeks, 
we had been searching for a ride in the branch to be able to go down the baptism  for Jesse in Silverton. 
Silverton is so far from Portland, and it is the Christmas season so most people are busy or on vacation. We had asked everyone
we could think of, including people that were not in our area. We're the only sisters in the whole zone, and those who
go to the deaf branch are so far apart, it's really hard to get rides. Our zone leaders this time came to the rescue, but 
in a different way we had in mind. They had found a ride literally for us the night before. Sister Furnell and I were just 
opening our daily planning session for the next day, and I had just prayed again that we would find someone that
would be willing to take us to the baptism. I had literally just opened my eyes, and saw the elders walking across the
parking lot to our apartment door with a sticky note in hand. They had found someone who was willing to take us. I've
never been so thankful for that answer. 
The baptism was so beautiful and It was very well attended. It was so nice to see everyone again from my old area, and 
to see Jesse get baptized by his friend that introduced him to the gospel.It was kind of funny, his friend was so excited to 
baptize him he did it very quickly, and as a result didn't fully immerse him the first time, so he had to go down a second 
time. It's interesting when we don't fully do something right the first time, or delay, we end up having to do it again and it takes
even longer at times to repair it. Both of his parents came, and before the baptism even began, I was able to talk with them both
a bit about why we are baptized and what the LDS church believes in baptism. I invited the mother to pay attention to how she 
felt watching her son get baptized. The spirit was there so strongly, and I know that they were both touched by their son's example. I am hoping that one day that they will both join after watching their son's example of what we believe. With this baptism 
I was also very honored to be asked to speak on the holy ghost. It was interesting speaking...I had a talk completely written before 
hand, but ended up giving a different introduction about the restoration of the gospel. I'm grateful for the guidance of the holy ghost.
Sister Furnell and I have been working very hard. We both have been a little under the weather this past couple weeks and have been so very tired. But with all this tiredness, we've had great experiences with finding. Last week, We both felt prompted to go to 
Battleground to search for some deaf names. One was way out in the forest of battle ground. We both felt a little creeped out at first, trying to find  a house in the middle of the seemingly forest at night, but we found it and they were home! The wife that was hearing listened to our message and then told us that most of her family was deaf, along with several deaf uncles. We gave her a copy of the book of Mormon, and she said to come back the next time we were in the area.With the deaf, it's a very slow and long process sometimes of getting them to trust us as missionaries, and then to get them to church, but she listened and I hope that she will take action on the promise we left them with. 
My signing is improving every day. I'm trying to sign as much as I can.
Christmas day is coming up soon and it definitely looks like Christmas around Portland.At the moment, we have plans to call you guys from the Plock's cell phones so we need to arrange a time to make phone calls and maybe conference in Jess or whoever else won't be there. What are your plans for christmas? Are you staying home this year? I love all of you. Sister Embley