Missionary Letter #3 (October 18, 2010)

i have ten minutes to email because we're not sure if i'll be able to email tomorrow because we're going to our missions!! baaaaah! i'm going to my trainer!

one more tracting thing, sis c had to pee sooooo bad and we were just in a neighborhood. so we went to this little drugstore and there was no bathroom, and the store owner wouldn't let her use her bathroom in her home because then she'd have to close the store. haha sis c was sooooooo desperate and this little chinese girl came walking into the store so sis c asked if she lived nearby and if we could use her toilet!! haha! it was so hilarious. the cute little chinese girl was just like, uh, no...but sis c was so desperate she was willing to do anything. haha we ended up going across the street and using her toilet. her english wasn't very good, she was there for school (we went to lancaster) and so we talked to her for a little bit, gave her a book of mormon, and told her it would help her with anything she needed help with and gave her the church address. i don't think she really understood what was going on. we just kept handing her passalong cards and pamphlets and things. hahaha. woops! then sis f, a sister in my district, was like, "hey, bladders convert" and told us a bunch of stories like that. so awesome.

loooooooove,

sister cutie

Missionary Letter #2 (Oct 13, 2010)

oh gosh then we went contacting on friday in manchester. most stressful thing of my life. especially when they're like, talk to everyone, talk to every single person you see. so i'm like totally stressed out the whole time and i had to go up and start pretty much every conversation because sis c was really scared. i was like hey, i thought YOU were supposed to be the bold one. i guess one of us had been planning for reality and how scary it would be, and the other one had no idea how scary it was actually going to be. haha.

today we did a church history tour and saw where the first people were baptized and where the first missionaries came, and then we went to a tiny town that's where the painting above mom and dad's bed is. it's the cutest little town that this lord has made everyone preserve so there's no electricity. reminds me of the cotswolds. we'll have to go there when we come back. but a ton of people were baptized there and heber c kimball was talking to joseph smith about that place and joseph smith said that some ancient prophets were there and they blessed that land! how cool is that? it was so peaceful and nice, it did feel sacred. it was such a beautiful little town. everything stone and a little church and ivy growing on the houses and things. i was like, oh yeah, this is why i love england. wish it was possible to serve in places like that. probably not. 

it's been nice weather here, so during exercise we get to go outside and play football. yesterday i almost headed it! woo! i played defense like the whole time but then i started like actually running up for offense too and i kicked the ball into the district leader's crotch. uuuuuuh woops! haha! and then i ran round the track and there was a dead rabbit on the trail. pooooor peter rabbit :(

an area seventy came and talked to us and gave us a fireside on sunday. it was so good. and then afterward he came around and shook all of our hands and he said to me "you have a nice aura about you. families will love you." isn't that cute? so hopefully families will love me! gosh. i had to say the closing prayer for that too but then it was okay.

well! i'm starting to feel okay about being here! i leave the mtc on monday because there's some kind of conference for mission presidents. only a few more days here!

love you all!

sister Emma

Missionary Letter #1 (Oct 6, 2010)

Preface: Lauren here (Emma's favorite sister). I have hijacked her blog and added myself as a writer so that you may keep up with her mission. We don't have any pictures of her yet but when we get them, I will post them. And just as a little background, Emma entered the Provo MTC Wednesday October 29 (the same Wednesday as me, just five years later, I might add...), she was there for two days before learning her visa came through and was on a plane to England Friday October 1st. This is her first letter from England. Enjoy!

okay, so got here on saturday and was just toooootally wiped out. like i was walking around like a zombie because i was so dead. people kept asking me if i was okay, but i just knew that i'd have to sleep and then i'd be fine. a couple who works at the mtc here picked us up at the airport. we were pretty out of it by the time we were in london and before we went to manchester. 

there are 26 missionaries here right now. 11 sisters and 15 elders. apparently it's the biggest group of sisters they've every had, so that's kind of cool. there are people from all over the world here, two from the netherlands, a few english, a girl from pakistan who is one of my roommates, two beautiful swedes (of coooourse) and some others too. oh! one from italy and another from POLAND!!

we're going contacting in manchester on friday, so that's scary. i'm starting to freak out less though, so that's good. yesterday in class i was like, oh my gosh, i don't have to go to school. i don't have homework. i just get to study the scriptures and have gospel discussions and teach people that is so awesome!

i was looking at scriptures yesterday and jeremiah 16:16 talks about the fishers and hunters, so i was like, i think the fishers came 150 years ago. we're hunters who have to look in the mountains and search under the rocks. but our teachers tell us that we're a baptizing mission so we should think that we can baptize. anyway, i'm getting excited and not freaking out so much. it's good to be here. all of the sudden it's real and it's not so intense. just starting to be good and hard work and normal life.

i love you!

sister emma

Leave a comment if you want and I'll make sure Emma gets your love notes. And, if you're wondering why Emma would be so excited about someone being from Poland, it's because I served my mission there. Though I think the Pakistani sister is way more exciting.

chaaaaaanges...

i'm flying to the provo mtc.

TOMORROW!

so i have to get packed
climb spencer's butte one last time
watch glee
get ice cream at prince puckler's
eat the most delicious salmon dinner eeeeever.
get set apart
say goodbye to mother, father, rachel, and ellie
say hello and then goodbye to jess and cami and grandma and grandpa
and try to find a couple of friends who are still in the mtc...
oh yeah and packed. that's worth saying twice.
and i'm blogging about it?

and had another senior photo shoot with rachel today...yeeeeah.

ps as soon as my visa comes i'm out of the provo mtc and on my way to the preston one.

love all of you so much! i'll see you in 18 months!

after weeks of saying goodbyes

i'm getting closer to saying my last goodbye for a while

except for i emailed my travel person at church headquarters and she said my visa hasn't been issued yet. sooooo...awesome. starting to wonder what's going to happen to me.

there are a few possibilities:

a. i'll get my visa magically on wednesday and go to the preston mtc on thursday as planned.

b. i'll be sent to the provo mtc for a week or maybe all three weeks.
i. they'll call tomorrow and tell me i have a flight on wednesday instead of thursday. awesome.

c. they'll make me wait another week in which case i will go to salt lake for conference with my family.

d. as a loyal friend promised me, i'll be reassigned to boise. gooooooooood.

in the meantime i am shopping for suitcases and my mother is letting down the hem of skirts and rachel and i are planning how we can fit all of our favorite cafes into the meals of my last couple of days. my dad and i are going golfing today, ellie and i are going for one of our last runs together, it is finally sunny outside so i'll probably lay out by the pool while i read preach my gospel. and every night is squeeze-as-many-movies-as-possible-before-they-are-forbidden night. so far it has been: bright star (about john keats. veeery good.), robin hood, coco before chanel (i keep thinking about this one. SO GOOD. actress from amelie...so enough said), and casablanca. i'mma miss all this.

my favorites of rachel's senior picture shoot yesterday:

my fave:

one more thing, my mother has offered to post my weekly emails, or at least parts of them on my blog. maybe even pictures...is that of interest to anyone?

pretty farewell party. pasties, tea, roses, pretty linens and macarons.

thanks family for a fun weekend! yaaaay.

jess and michael wedding preview

such a fun day.

love you jess and michael!