Week 50

Monday, February 1, 2016

Hi mom :)

I am good this beautiful day in Naga :). We have Missionary Leadership Council tomorrow, so, we traveled from Daet to Naga this morning, so I spent another P-day in Naga :). MLC happens every month, so I will be back again in March :) It is exciting being an STL... And a little bit stressful, but I love it and I love the sisters, and I love my companion.

The road trip is beautiful, and I love the mountains, and the palm trees, and all of the things that go with Daet and our area!!!! I love it so much, that when I get rich, I will buy a house in Daet and go live there and be happy as can be :) We have a stunning area and I am still learning it, and we have some awesome investigators that are so ready to be harvested, and it really is the Promised Land :). I want to stay there until August, but I know of some other STLs that want to go to Daet, so I will probably stay there until June, if I don't transfer in June, then the rest of my mission is there in Daet :) It scares me to think that in a couple of weeks I will have reached one year and then I will be so close to finishing my mission.... Oh well, at least I have some weddings to look forward to :) *Cough, cough*

So as an STL I am apart of the Leadership council here in the Naga Mission, and so we have meetings we have lots more paper work, and we have exchanges and apartment checks for the other sisters and we get to travel throughout the Zone, we get to help train missionaries, and we get to do all of those things, and keep a thriving area too :). For me, this is all just a little stressful.... but I have an awesome companion to help me and to be there for me when ever :) I like living with STLs, because it is just a little bit more easier to be obedient than to not....... I like that part a lot... no Babylon, no staying up too late, being on time for studies and for all of the things in between!

I miss the snow more than anything... Maybe it is because I am not there in Utah..... THATS WHY!!!! AHahahahaha I still miss it :).

I love my area!!!! I think it is one of the most beautiful parts of the Philippines! It has a lot more than Goa, but the people are still so nice, and humble and they are willing to listen!!!! I love the members and they don't speak Bicol, I think yesterday was the first Sunday that I had where I understood about everything they said and I didn't nosebleed!!!! I love it so much!! We have some awesome people ready for Baptism! One is a ten year-old part member that is sooooo ten, but like all ten year-olds he was listening and he understood a lot about the Restoration and the Prophets and all of that! Then we have some Tatays, that are ready too! One is about 80, and has a lot of questions about the Restoration, and the other one is about 60, and he is so excited to be baptized on February 27!!!! We are excited for them and they are excited too :).

We have our first exchanges this week, I am a little stressed about this, I am working in the other sisters area, but still, I am pertified to go on exchanges D: Just.... Yeah, Yan lang... PERO! I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded!

I saw Sister Padilla and Sister Sulunga earlier today, I miss them both so much, and then I miss my other, Sister Gonzaga! I decided that I really do feel like their mother here in the mission!!!! I miss training so much and I miss everything about all of my akis!!!!! They make me happy and I will forever love them :) Training is the best part of my mission, and I will forever be grateful to Father for letting me train three Missionaries :). It is the best because you get to see and help these missionaries grow and become better and see thier progression, and with out trainers to train new missionaries, there is no other reason to have any other responsibility! I miss it more than ever!

Sorry for last weeks email, and how short it was, I really wasn't in the mood to write a really long letter so, I wrote that one... But I made a goal for this transfer to be a little more detailed in my letters, because of my dark days, in Milaor... But those days are over now, and I know that everything will be ok and all cool :).

I hope I have changed, I hope that I have changed and that it is a permanent change and that when I go home, I will be a better person and be better with the things that I struggled with and be better able to do the things that I want to do :). I hope that I have grown more spiritually, and that I will be better prepared for the things that I need to do when I get older :). I am excited to come home, but I am also scared... I remember thinking before my mission how scared I was to change on my mission and become different, but now I realize that these changes have just made me a better person! I am still Emma, even though my name sounds a little strange to me, and I have just become a better person through my mission with a deeper understanding of the gospel and with a much stronger testimony of Jesus Christ and I will be a little strange when I get home, but I know that it will be ok, and that I am a better person because of what I experienced here on my mission :).

I love the feeling of peace!! I know that it is one of the best feelings to have!!! I love how when we walk through the door, it feels like home, and it feels just so amazing :). I love the scripture in D&C 6:22 or 23. I know that it is true and I know that it is also an expression of Gods love for us :)

So this week I had an awesome thought, and I want to share it with you... So I was thinking and reading about the Grand Council in Heaven before we came to earth, and I was reading a quote by... someone.... I forgot... :) Basta! And he was talking about that moment that we forgot about and Satan's rebellion and how it was described as a war in heaven and I feel like I kinda saw it, and that it was a scary feeling, and I thought about all the people that I love here on earth, and all the people that I forgot about there in Heaven, and how many of those people that I loved might have followed Satan, and then if thats how I felt just thinking about it and not remembering the people that I love so much, the pain that Father must have felt when he saw 1/3 of his children walk away from his perfect plan to become like him! When I had this thought I realized how much we have to keep fighting Satan all of our lives, and how we cannot let him win. I then thought about His perfect love for us and how all we have to do is trust him! Cool di ba?

I love you all so much and I love this gospel!!! I know that it is true and that we have a loving Father in Heaven who loves us and is always there for us!!!! I hope that you all have a great week!!!

Love Sister Emma Nelson!!!