Merry Christmas!

Hello Everybody! I know what you are thinking and it is true. I have gotten to that point in the mission where I am just too lazy to write a weekly consistently. But, I will try to do better I promise.

When I last wrote we were about to have a transfer and let me tell you, THIS HAS BEEN THE BEST TRANSFER OF MY ENTIRE LIFE!!!! My companion is Sister Safuan and she is from Brazil/Paraguay and I love her to death. We have a lot of fun together but more importantly, we work hard together. Seriously, the perfect companion. 

The Christmas lights turned on a few weeks ago and it has been madness at Temple Square. Every single night there are thousands and thousands of people that come to Temple Square to see the lights and to celebrate the birth of our Savior and it is AWESOME!! We get to talk to and teach hundreds of people every night. The missionaries at this time of year are exhausted. It is so funny to see all of the sisters around you absolutely dead and you're dead too (but in a good way) and everyone is just in it together. One of the things that we do every night for at least thirty minutes is singing out in the cold by the Tabernacle. I thought I would hate it because it's cold and I don't feel that it is very effective, but actually, some of my fondest memories are coming from singing there! To be able to spread some cheer and freeze with my favorite people with me has been awesome. Wow, that sounds really cheesy. Moving on. 

While we are here at Temple Square we have the opportunity to go to another mission for two transfers (three months) and experience a more normal mission. Because (contrary to popular belief) we do proselyte on Temple Square, it just isn't the kind of proselyting (knocking on doors, riding bikes, etc.) that many people expect from a mission. I am getting the opportunity to go out and to experience something new starting January 8th! I have been temporarily reassigned to labor in the OHIO COLUMBUS MISSION WHOOOHOOOO!!!! Go Buckeyes!!! I'm super pumped but also nervous about this new adventure. 

Last but not least, I hit my "year" mark. My real one year mark is on January 9th but Dec 24 was my 6 months from when I go home because of the way the transfer falls. This past year has gone way too fast. I love being a missionary and I love Temple Square. I wish that I could just do this forever! But I am grateful for the opportunity that I have had to serve and I will continue to be grateful and to work as hard as I can for the next six months!

Sorry for how long this is but you all are the best! Have a great week!

Sister Moran

***********************

Hello Parents! 

Merry Christmas! This week has been fun but also boring if you know what I mean. 

We went on one more exchange for the district with our problem companionship. You remember, the ones that teach no lessons? I went with the sister that no one ever wants to be companions with because she is hard. She opened up to me and told me that her comp doesn't talk to her. As in they seriously don't communicate besides prayers at night but other than that nothing. She told me that she tries to ask her questions about her and what she likes to get her talking to which her comp replies "I don't like people in my business" and that is all. And let me tell you I was so mad at her companion for that minute because she was being so mean. Her companion has a bad attitude and even though she is stuck with someone that doesn't like to work, she can still be kind. Then again, I only got one side of the story. We counseled together on different things that we could do and different approaches that she could make but ultimately, she had tried all of those already. I just ended up telling her that she only had two and a half more weeks and that she should just do her best. We were planning on going on another exchange with them but honestly, I don't really feel like going on an exchange with the other sister with the attitude because I know myself and I know that I wouldn't react well to her. We shall see. I gave the Sister at the end of the exchange some things that she did well and then some things that she could do better at and she seemed really humble and excited about the changes. But, the problem is she is apparently like this after all exchanges and is super humble and willing to change but then never does anything about it. We are going to follow up every couple of days with her to see how things are going to make sure that she doesn't forget. Because on exchanges she steps up and does more than she does on an average day by far and it is easy to see that. 

Sunday was a special Christmas program! We had about a million musical numbers and not all of them sounded that great but the spirit was there. I really liked O Holy Night mostly because there were about 20 sisters up there and there is this new Sister from Norway, Sister Davik and she was WAY into it and singing her heart out and it was the cutest. We heard from the mission presidencies wives and that was cool. Sister Morris totally roasted her husband President Morris so that was really funny. Sister Fisher advised us not to hug because there was a sickness going around and I was like oh that is a good idea because as a matter of fact my throat hurts a little and my nose is a little bit runny. Well by the time the lights turned on at night I knew I was in a full-blown sickness. But what can you do but stay on the Square in the cold and sing in the cold and talk to people for four hours, right? I can honestly say that through it all it was not me having the strength to talk to people because ya girl was DEAD. It was God. I met some nice people though. I think my favorite from that night was this family from Brazil that we had met a few weeks ago and explained the Book of Mormon to and gotten their contact so they could come back to Temple Square and get a tour. Well, they never responded to our text but we ran into them again at the exact same spot so that was kind of funny. Sister Safuan was able to explain more of the restoration to them and this time when she invited them to have a copy of the Book of Mormon, they were really excited about it and really wanted it.  Miracles!! I also met this family (they spoke English not Portuguese though) and the mom was all concerned for me because it was my first Christmas out and was like "hang in there sweetie" and gave me a hug and I was like "okay thanks!" but I was actually pretty chill. Well, by the time we got home, I knew that I probably would not be working the next day because I was so weak that I could barely walk. But, that didn't stop me from going over to the district's apartment and playing card games and eating and decorating cookies! It was more like they did cookies while I laid on the couch and died and then I joined in for a few minutes for games before Sister Safuan carried me back to our apartment. The night was a restless one and when I woke up the next morning I could barely even get out of the bed because my body just hurt everywhere and my throat was dead and my nose was dead and my head was full of cotton and I could barely put together a sentence. I made it to the couch where Sister Safuan gave me a blanket and I slept for four more hours. 

She then proceeded to take care of me for the next two days because I was d-e-d ded. She got me medicine, Gatorade, chocolate, soup, blankets, and set me up watching some missionary videos and also just let me sleep for a crazy amount of time. She is the definition of an angel honestly. I love her. I made sure to tell her that over the two days that we were home because I know that she was probably going crazy inside our tiny apartment but she was just so good about it. I love that woman. 

We finally got back out on Christmas day and man oh man what a day that was. We got to the square at about 8:30 for a breakfast provided by the mission and then President and Sister Fisher said some things about Christmas and about how some really nice people provided the gifts and we MUST WRITE A THANK YOU NOTE etc. and then President just went up and announced outbound assignments! He sent 33 people and said my name last (go figure) so I was in the crowd freaking out because I didn't think that he was going to send me but don't fear he did. I got up there and I discovered that I will go to the Ohio Columbus Mission! I am super pumped because it will be an adventure but I am also super scared because I love Temple Square and I am comfortable here. Last transfer I was not, but this transfer I am! I love my companion, we get along, we work hard, our district is pretty good in general, life is great and I know what I am doing here. Outbound, on the other hand, I have no idea about anything at all. Trust me, I know how to be a missionary but I have only ever done it in a Visitor's Center so it will be weird to do it in another setting. But all will be well I am sure. After Outbound calls, we all sang some songs and then went to the upstairs of the South Visitor's Center and we all had presents! Nice people gave us gift cards and water bottles and journals and a bunch of other things. I think that we all get these because we have a lot of sisters from foreign countries that get nothing for Christmas except for what the mission gives them. That is how Sister Safuan would have been if you hadn't have been really kind and sent her a bunch of presents. Oh, and when she called her family her dad asked to talk to me and he said "please tell your parents how grateful we are to them for taking care of Laura on Christmas and being so generous with getting her gifts. It means a lot to us" so there you go! Straight from Brazil!

The rest of Christmas we spent cooking and cleaning. We were supplied a ham and potatoes and veggies by the mission and we were all supposed to gather as districts to eat so that is what we did! Sister Safuan and I were in charge of the ham and we only finished it an hour later than we had planned lol. But we had the district over and we ate and we had dessert. Then, once we had cleaned, we went back to the Square to watch last year's Tabernacle Christmas concert! President made it an option for everyone to come and see and to my surprise, there were literally eight people there out of the whole 181 in the mission. But, that just made it more fun because it was up on the big screen and it was loud and fun and festive to watch. From 6-10 the square was open and we worked! We spent a lot of time on the computers because we haven't been on to talk with our people there for a while.

Today, we went to the Natural History Museum with Sister Mueller and Sister Anderson from the district and Sister Higginbotham and Sister Davik. Like I said, I was not too interested in the history and learning all of the dino facts and the rock facts. They did have an exhibit about cells and I thought that was pretty interesting! I was trying to go back in my memory and remember everything from biology but I couldn't remember anything and then I got stressed because college and how can I pass if I know nothing and then I just walked away from the cells because yikes, can't be thinking about that on the mish, I have to think about people's salvation and things! But it was really fun. Sister Safuan likes to take pictures like A LOT so she literally held my phone the whole time and just took pictures of any and everything. I will probably delete half of them when she gets them on her phone. I thought it was funny because there were all of these people that were smart looking and had nice shoes and we put together and reading these things and Sister Safuan and I were imitating the dinosaurs. Very diverse people going there lol. But a fun pday activity nonetheless. 

We then did groceries at our local Harmons and now we just get to chill at home until we have to go back to the Square!

Yup and that was my week! Thanks for making me type it all out, I will write a weekly right after this and send it to you and then if you could forward it on to everyone else that would be greatly appreciated. I love you both and miss you a ton! Talk to you next week!!!

Love 

Em 

Light the World

Hello Parents! This week has been much like other weeks except for one thing, we had a bunch of exchanges!!

We went with Sister Anderson and Sister Mueller from our district for our exchange on Monday. I was with Sister Anderson and she is in her second transfer, so she is still in training. I forgot how little people know in their second transfer! It was honestly kind of funny to see how much she stuck with me and how much she waited for me to take the lead. It was fun to have a companion that young, but it also reminded me how I didn't like training someone because I feel like I never explain things and I just jump right in. Oh well. Sister Anderson was a HOOT. For reals she is hilarious. She is from Nampa, Idaho and is a convert of about one year. She grew up going to the Nazarene Church but eventually converted to ours and is now on a mission. Isn't that amazing?? I LOVED being with her for the day. We taught a bunch of lessons! One of me and Sister Safuan's favorite places to teach is the Tabernacle at the night time because there is a constant stream of people coming in and they all sit down so they can't walk away. It is a win-win. I kind of just abandoned Sister Anderson to fend for herself and went to go contact people which I honestly felt a little bit bad about because she usually would stick to me but after about an hour it was so cute to see her come up to me all excited because she had taught eight lessons all by herself! She told me that she learned how to approach people by herself and she feels confident in doing that which is awesome because I didn't have to do anything but leave her alone to figure it out and something Sister Safuan and I wanted was for her to feel more confident in her missionary work. Boom. On our exchange, we got to volunteer at the giving machines for an hour! The only downside is that you aren't allowed to proselyte at the machines, but other than that it was really good. It honestly made me cry a little and tear up because there were all these people just lining up and waiting forever just to donate and get absolutely no recognition. The one that stuck out to me the most was this single college dude that had glasses; he was cute as a button and he came up and donated GLASSES and I literally was in awe. I saw another family donate over $1000 worth of things and that was crazy too. It was an awesome opportunity to be able to see how selfless people can be. Even these little kids that paid for things all by themselves and were so excited about it. Just a cool opportunity. 

On Tuesday we had Zone Conference and it was CRAZY GOOD!!!! I feel like I received a lot of answers about how I was feeling and things were said that I felt were specifically for me. Sister Fisher challenged us to each pick a Christlike attribute that we wanted to develop over the next two months and I picked forgiveness. Another fun curveball is that we did a roleplay! I honestly saw it coming and I knew President would pick on us. It went super well though. Our scenario was that we were teaching a couple that weren't of our faith but that were religious but really only went to church on Christmas and Easter. They were passing through Temple Square and we were taking their picture and then we were supposed to invite them to our Christmas service and then ask to stay in contact. Not too hard honestly. We asked some key questions about what they believed about Jesus Christ and why He was important to them and we asked them if they wanted to go to church and they said sure and we promised them some blessings specific to the conversation we had (esp. relating around families because they had mentioned that) and then said that we could help them find the address if they had a phone number or Facebook that we could stay in contact on and help them find the building. A good time indeed. When it was over, everyone had good things to say and even President seemed impressed! I remember I did my first roleplay in Zone Conference my second transfer and it was so scary to me and I was convinced that everyone could hear my heart beating through the microphone but this time was a lot less scary and I honestly wasn't even thinking about how there were two zones and the APs and the entire mission presidency watching, I was just going and so was Sister Safuan. A good experience. One of my biggest takeaways from this Zone Conference was that we need to continually be striving to purify and sanctify our hearts so that we can let our lights more fully shine to those around us. We talked a lot about our countenance and how can we expect to have Christ's countenance in us and be a representative of Him if we are not continually trying to become better and repent and purify ourselves and allow that light to shine through? So yeah, that was a big takeaway for me:) 

Wednesday was another day of exchanges but this time it was with the Zone Leaders. I hate exchanges. I don't know how many times I can say that but I really just don't like them that much. Anyways, I went with Sister Drennan from Florida but she grew up mostly in UT for 14 years. She is really nice. We stayed busy and actually had time to do some work on the computer which was awesome because I feel like we never have time to be on the computer ever since the Christmas schedule started. We had a good South Visitor's Center shift where I basically did the exact same thing in real life that we had roleplayed in Zone Conference the day before so that was cool. We taught one of her people part of the Plan of Salvation over the phone, but just the Creation, Agency and the Fall of Adam and Eve, and our Life on Earth (very briefly) and it went really well! I like being able to hear how other sisters teach things so I can learn better ways to teach. I feel like I always overcomplicate Adam and Eve (I blame the temple for that) so it was nice to hear how simply she taught it and I could learn from that. We stayed busy all night too with talking with people and we were able to have some good interactions, especially with these two girls who we took to see the God's Plan video and at the end, they were both crying and one was thinking about a mission and she is basically sold on it now. I like being able to impact members too. I used to hate it but now I can see the impact the things we do here can have on guests and members of the church alike. Another cool interaction that I had was with this deacons quorum and they were here just yesterday night for their youth activity. They were coming out by the Christus and I stopped them and chatted with them and then their leader said "So sister, do you have a little message for us?" and I was just so EXCITED because did I EVER. We talked about missions and if they wanted to serve and why they wanted to and then I asked what they were doing to prepare. They shared a couple of different things and then I asked them "Do you read the Book of Mormon every day?" and everyone was silent so I knew that was the invitation. I invited them to read at least a few verses every day and I promised them that they would be better prepared for their missions and that they would learn more about and feel Jesus closer in their lives. They all said they would read every day and they are going to keep each other accountable. I will never see these young men again but it was just really sweet for me to talk with them. I know that they will never remember my name or anything like that but they will remember my invitation and I have faith that they will ask and that it will change their lives. 

We have some changes coming up on Temple Square my dudes. First of all, we are losing our dear South Visitor's Center in just a few days. I love that Visitor's Center and the most miracles have happened there so I am sad to lose it. Our mission office is being boxed up and everything is moving to the Relief Society building tomorrow and it is just so sad to see everything get taken down and moved. And trust me, I am used to moving, but this place is home to me now and the change is weird and kind of scary honestly. We are about to move over to the Conference Center and start working there which I am excited about but I know that the transition will be weird. But, I will probably be going outbound soon so I will only be there for about a week before I head out. I really think that President is announcing outbound assignments on Christmas morning because there are no more Relief Society meetings until the new year and that isn't enough time for packing to go outbound because the transfer board will be coming out then. Plus, Christmas is the last time that the whole mission will be together besides Sacrament meeting and he can't do it then because it would be irreverent. 

Our online people are kind of falling off. It may have a correlation to do with our having less time online, but even people that were solid with the locals and didn't really talk to us too much won't really respond. Our dear sweet beautiful Apollo is not being responsive to us or to the locals. We all counseled together and we decided to give him some space and then in the new year try him again. I'm hoping that me going outbound and telling him about it will make him want to talk to us again before I can only talk to him on pdays. We'll keep you updated on that though. With Isabella, we just haven't heard from her and the locals haven't either since both of our initial contacts. We are going to follow up with them this week and see what we can do to help. We have someone that is on date pretty solidly for the 27th, His name is Ross! We actually didn't find him, some missionaries asked for help reading the scriptures with him and his wife online and we did it! We have called him a little bit and we got to teach the word of wisdom. His wife isn't progressing as well. She wants to be baptized and knows that she needs to make changes to do so but she just won't. Oh, Kathleen. But we are going to call him again this week and read with them before the baptism that we really hope goes through! We have Ricky who was an inbound call who asked about the resurrection that was already being taught and we just text him every so often and answer any more questions that he has. He is a cool dude. He is supposed to be baptized on Jan 11 so after I will probs be outbound, but that is okay! It doesn't matter if I will be here, it just matters that he takes those steps. But yeah, our people are kind of falling apart a little bit and the queue is still super dead so it is really hard to find new people to teach. Please pray that we can find prepared people and just pray for the people that we already have that no one will slip through the cracks and that they will continue to progress! 

Today we went with our Zone Leaders shopping and they wanted to go to this boutique and we went but Sister Safuan and I weren't getting anything we were just there and the owner literally has a daughter serving in Vegas and she told us to go to the sale rack and each pick a dress and we could just have it. I was like "WHAT?!?!?!?" It was crazy you guys. Sister Drennan couldn't find a dress that looked right so the lady just let her have a full-priced not on sale dress for free. It was ridiculous nice. I swear, say what you will about serving in Utah, but the people are super nice. Also, while we were in Walmart, this lady tried to give us $20 and we were like "no no please no we have enough money" and she started crying because her son is on a mission and when people do that for him she is so grateful because she isn't right there to take care of him. So, we took the money so she would stop crying and chatted for a few minutes. I think that partly it is because we are in Utah but also because it is Christmas and all of these members are just super super nice and generous and this time of the year. After all, I have been serving in Utah for a while now and this kind of stuff hasn't happened too much and then it happened twice in one day. Usually, people just pay for my food. But these ones went super out of their way to serve us and show us kindness, it was SO SWEET. It shows me a lot of what Christ does for people at this time of the year. 

I'm a little homesick but honestly not too bad right now. I thought that I would miss you guys more and home more (which I DO of COURSE) but I think it is pretty cool to be a missionary at Christmastime. Especially when you get to be at Temple Square. I am really happy and I love what I am doing. Sister Safuan is the bestest person ever and I love that I get to be with her. God is so very good. 

Watch this video to see just how cute Emily and Sister Safuan are!

Love you and miss you both! And I get to talk to you in just six short days because of CHRISTMAS SO YAAAAAA!!!! Thanks for being the best and for supporting me while I've been here:) Merry Christmas! 

Love 

Em 

Happy Chrysler

Hi Parents! I'm going to do bullet points of this week so hopefully it all makes sense. 

-We taught 88 lessons!!!!! I know, that is a lot of lessons. I would say about 90 percent are for people that we talk to on the Square though. We do a good job of picking out the nonmembers and talking to them, but at night when it is member central we just talk to them. All you have to do to teach a lesson to members is teach a principle and invite them to do something. I've had some really tender experiences with members though as I have done this. My two highlights are when I was talking to a recent convert family of about two years and we were in the Tabernacle. I asked the little girl if she knew what General Conference was and she said "no" and her dad was like "come on sweetie you're making me look bad" and I told her that General Conference is when we get to hear what God wants us to know about and it is very important. He does that through a prophet. We then were talking more and I invited this little girl and her dad to read a general conference talk this week together and then the mom showed up and she joined in on the invitation and it was the sweetest experience. The other was with this deacons group and we started talking about missions and if they wanted to serve and why they wanted to go and they all gave different reasons as to why. Their answers were all different and it was cool to see why 13 year olds would want to serve. We then talked about what my mission means for me and what their leader's mission meant to him and then I invited them to start preparing for their missions now! I asked them if they read the Book of Mormon everyday and they said "well kinda" and I said well the best way that you can prepare is by reading it everyday. I told them that they could ease into it and start by reading it everyday that week and they said yes! I can't follow up so I told them to keep each other accountable;) I am seriously super exhausted and dead inside because I am so tired. Yesterday night my head hurt so bad that I couldn't even feel it (idk if that makes sense) but I just kept talking to people for three hours straight. This doesn't sound fun, but it is TOTALLY fun. I love being able to be on Temple Square at Christmastime. We are so busy that Sister Safuan and I keep forgetting to take pictures, so, we decided to take at least one a day, especially with the lights so we can remember this time more! 

- This week I saw literally every single person I know. I swear no one is safe here. I saw the McCombs, Ellie and Eric Martinez, Brian Davis (who asked how you're doing btw dad), Paige Neilson (I played vb with her @lakenheath), Matt and Corbin (who brought me German food!! How nice!), and some random person handed some other missionaries a plate of cookies for me for a late birthday gift but the person didn't write their name on it so I have no idea who it is from, and one other person who apparently knew me in England and was tall and skinny with brown hair but then disappeared before I made it to the North Visitor's Center to say hey. Yup. A crazy amount of people. I feel like I always have to look presentable just out of pure fear that someone I know will show up and they will see how dead I feel inside. Thank goodness for makeup, am I right? It is cool though to be able to run into people I know on Temple Square, unique to pretty much this mission for sure. 

Emily and Corinne, her roommate from school

-We went to the Temple yesterday! Usually I just do the endowment but we did sealings yesterday and it was my first time. When watching the sealings I was just thinking about the priesthood a lot and what it means to have the priesthood because the sealer was going quick and idk I just wasn't feeling it too much. When it was my turn to go the altar and proxy seal some daughters to their parents, that is when I felt it. The Spirit was there for sure and I could feel the importance of the Temple and Temple Sealings. It made me think a lot about how I was giving other daughters a chance to be with her mom and dad forever and it was just super sweet. I'm grateful for the knowledge that I have to be with you guys forever. We also did initiatories and I had some names from the Netherlands and the old ladies had no idea how to pronounce them and it was really funny.

-Apollo had a family emergency this week and hasn't been chatting with us too much which is concerning. We have been praying for him and it would be great if you could pray for him too! His name is on the prayer roll so that should help. We had a HUGE miracle this week and her name is Isabella. She was a Bible request but upon calling her, I discovered that she is 18 and super willing to accept the gospel. So, after trying (and failing) to explain the priesthood in a way that she would understand (side note: I did it a good job but it didn't click, even locals tried again and it didn't work) I just invited her to baptized by someone with the priesthood and she said yes and then we put her on date for Jan 4. HUGE MIRACLE THAT NEVER HAPPENS. Seriously. Ridiculous. She didn't end up going to church but that is okay because hopefully she will go this week. We haven't talked to her lately and neither have the locals because she isn't responding so we are a little concerned but pray for her and we will keep you updated. We have 6 people on date to be baptized and actually most of them are english speakers. We honestly haven't had too much time to be online because the Square is so busy but we are doing our best to find time to call the people that we need to and to find new people and send referrals. 

- We got to go to the First Presidency Christmas Devotional this past Sunday and it was really cool. I super loved the music, the Tabernacle Choir is just out of this world. I really loved the talks that I heard.  A lot lately I just feel like I am not really in the Christmas spirit. It just doesn't feel like Christmastime. Which is super weird because there are lights everywhere and I sing Christmas carols daily for the world to hear and I invite people to light the world left and right so it doesn't quite click that I am not in the spirit of things. I kept trying to brainstorm why and I received revelation during the devotional! When we keep our thoughts focused on the Savior, we will always have the Christmas spirit with us. Now I think in general I have my thoughts on Him. I mean as His representative I have to, but I could always do better. I am working on finding more ways to do this, to focus on Him. Any suggestions? 

- This week in District Council we talked about prayer and repentance but specifically repentance. We had them read the talk by president Nelson from the most recent priesthood session (thanks for the idea mom) and they liked it! Our training was specifically about teaching lessons on Square to members and having QUALITY lessons and interactions with them. How to discern their needs, how to get them to talk, how to tailor specific invitations that will help them.. we don't just want to have cookie cutter conversations with everyone because everyone is different. Plus, one companionship in our district taught two lessons total this week. There are a lot of things that I could say about that, but mostly I will just say that here is no excuse and they need to do better. One of the sisters in the companionship used to be a Zone Leader so she really knows better and should be doing better. The good news is she is going home early so she can go to BYU and her companion will be with someone new. Her companion is just as bad though. She doesn't work and she has been told that she is on her last chance or President will send her home to finish up in a service mission. I know. So that companionship not doing anything is really bad. We gave a really good training and everyone was participating and we had a great role play at the end and people were taking notes and we challenged each companionship in the district to teach at least three QUALITY lessons per day. This way we will have 60 lessons as a district for the week! They all committed to it and we are excited to see the changes that take place. I will update you on that next week. The whole thing we wanted to focus on was making sure we are discerning needs and fulfilling our purpose and not just raising indicators because yes quality over quantity but you can have a goodly amount of people talked to and lessons taught because there are a goodly amount of people on Square. Right? Do you guys disagree? Let me know your thoughts. 

- We had our interviews with President this past week and I just love that guy so much. To my surprise we started off my interview talking about last transfer with Sister Brinkmeier. I had heard her saying things about me and our old roomie told me and she said "don't worry no one believes her because everyone knows who you are and everyone knows who she is" but ever since last transfer I just keep feeling so terrible and like I ruined everything and I should have done something different. Her telling people that I was "mean" to her made me feel terrible. I broke down to Sister Safuan and she comforted me and said all of the right things but I still felt bad and then I was praying and asking Heavenly Father to help me but I felt like I was just feeling still terrible. I went in for interviews though and President's first words to me were "Sister Moran, none of what happened to you last transfer was your fault. She was a bum and was mean to you and she admits that and has admitted that to me. I can see that you are hard on yourself about it but you did what you needed to do so don't be so hard on yourself, know that you are loved and that you are one of the best we have and that is why you had to be with her. She has some demons in her life that she has been hiding and I'm sure that you have been able to see some of those and that you know that but I'm helping her and she'll get out of it and everything will be just fine. Just know that you did great and you are loved and this transfer is just going to be so much better for you" and I just felt this relief wash over me. It was my answer that it was okay, yes I had made mistakes and I could have done some things better but I did my best with a companion that was hard. I also found out that she has been working with President to repent of some things that she did pre-mission and didn't work out so it all makes more sense now why she is the way she is. Doesn't make it any easier to see her. Shoot every time I see her I get terrified and my heart beats fast and I want to cry sometimes even but that is okay. I really tried with her. I did. I just want her to be happy. Also, idk if dad is going to get that signed picture because I am terrified to ask her again but I will. I'm going to get her a Christmas present so I'll let you know how that goes. Maybe this sounds dramatic but it's true and it has been really bothering me this whole transfer but somehow President just knows what to say to calm you down. The rest of the interview was good and I just told him that Dad got promoted and he said to keep him updated on where we move and then at the end he said "Well Sister Moran, what is next for you?" and I said "Well President, I have been here for almost a year now so I would love to go outbound if at all possible" and he just laughed and I'm taking that as I'm going. I think that we will know right around Christmas so stay tuned to see where my reassignment will be!

You guys I just really love doing missionary work. I feel like I have just fallen in love all over again with what I am doing. I love my companion. She is the BEST and we are having a lot of fun together. She thinks I'm hilarious and likes my jokes (which is rare because most people just think that I'm weird) so I am just living life out here. I love my Savior and I even love talking to members (wow, what a change). I'm excited to go outbound but also sad because I love Temple Square and I'm going to miss it, but I know that I will learn a lot and I will still be fulfilling my purpose no matter where I serve. I don't always understand how, but God does and He will help me always. 

I love you both! Thank you for all of the love and support you give me. I'll talk to you soon and I'll see you soon! You know I am almost at my 6 months till I go home mark? Wild. I guess that time flies when you are having fun. 

Love

Em 

I'm So Tired All The Time Now - Thank You Christmastime

Hey parents! This week has been a whirlwind of things. 

The lights on Temple Square turned on and all of the people weren't joking, it is madness! Seriously, it is like General Conference weekend but every. single. night. It is madness. But I love it! We have been super crazy busy though the past week and I feel like I haven't had time to breathe. So mom, I totally get you wanting to just have a day to do nothing and chill. So do it! And think of me while you are and then it will be like I'm chillin out with you;) 

I'll give you a picture of what our everyday schedule looks like. We are supposed to studies every day before 5pm because studies are a priority. We haven't done studies all week. Between zone service projects and district council and missionary department training, it has just been too wild. Oh my gosh, this email probably doesn't make sense and it is because there has just been so much going on that I don't even know where to start. I think what I'll do is give a day at a time from this past week and write the highlights. 

Saturday: every day, every single zone has what they call "sing smile find (ssf)" that is where we stand outside the Tabernacle and sing songs to get people in the Christmas spirit. There is another Christmas assignment though, it is called "spreading Christmas cheer" and that is where either as a companionship or as a big group of people who have the assignment at the same time, you walk around outside all around the Square and sing for everyone. We got together with all of the other sisters that had that assignment and sang and let me tell you, it was ridiculously cold outside. I couldn't feel my feet by the time we were done. Then, right after that hour, we had ssf. So in total, we were outside singing for 1.5 hours in the middle of the winter. I'm not complaining, I actually kind of loved it because I know that it will be something that I will remember forever and cherish, it was just kind of chilly out there. 

Sunday: Was actually pretty chill. We went to church, did a lot of proselyting at night, and sang Christmas Carols for the world to enjoy!

Monday: We had Mission Leadership Council (MLC) and we learned some things that the mission is hoping to implement and help us improve on. District Council was super stressed and wanting to make District Council a very spiritual setting where we are able the feel the spirit. We talked about roleplays in District Council and how that would help us all improve and how everything should look. I always feel a little bit incompetent during Mission Leadership Council because there are just so many things to do and things that I could do better on. I took notes though and Sister Safuan and I made plans on how to be better so I am excited to see how to become a better leader this transfer. Another thing they focused on was being friends with the sisters, but being leaders first. I think this is always a hard balance because you want them to know that you love them and care about them but you still need to lead them. I think a good way to do this would be hanging out with them and being their friend outside of official meetings like District Council. That way they know that we love them, but we want them to become better and be better missionaries. Speaking of, they stressed a lot helping our sisters to be good teachers and missionaries and to know that is the most important thing that we are all doing. Ugh, I just feel like at Mission Leadership Council there are so many things that we have to do and we have to be and I just don't feel like I can do any of them. Any suggestions on how to improve on any of these things? I'm guessing you both have had ample experience with this stuff. 

Tuesday: We scheduled everything so we could be prepared and do studies and get everything done but we had other things to do. Go figure. We had Relief Society at 7:30 am and I was ridiculous exhausted. For reals. During the Christmas season we go to bed at 11:30 and wake up at 7:30 but on days with Relief Society and Sacrament, we still have to be up at 6ish to get ready and be there on time so you are just especially tired. At the end of Relief Society, all of the senior couples dressed up in Christmas outfits and ran out to give us all Christmas presents!! It was the cutest thing EVER!! After that, we covered Assembly Hall for some sisters last minute and then right at 10 we had training from the missionary department about a pilot interaction that we would be starting. They are called member referrals. Basically, members can go onto LDS tools and refer their friends. They put the friend's info and their info and then it comes into our online teaching queue. We pick those up, contact the members and talk about their friends and their needs and verify that they are expecting the missionaries to come over (because it is against church policy to send them without permission). We then conference the local missionaries into the call and if they aren't available at that time, we call them later, get them in contact with the member, and they can hash out the details on how involved the member wants to be and everything. It was a two hour training and I was kind of annoyed the whole time because I just didn't really understand our purpose in the entire thing. We aren't really going to help to teach these people it seems like so I am confused as to why we have to just add another person to the equation. I asked that and they said that they found without us, people were slipping through the cracks because we are "experts" in sending referrals and working with missionaries online and making sure people get taken care of, so that is why they need us to do this and why it can't go right to the locals. Honestly, I just need to humble myself because I want to feel like I am doing something too like I am helping in the teaching and not just chatting and then passing these people off. I decided to just go into it and see what I could get done. I did what they told us to, called the member, discussed the person, called the missionaries discussed the situation and told them to work with the member because they wanted to be involved. The problem with this situation is that the person being referred had a whack address and we didn't know what area they were in and there were two possible sets of missionaries, so, we just called the person being referred and talked with him. His name is Collin and he is super cool. We chatted for about 10 minutes and talked about the missionaries, verified his address, and then we said we would call him in a few days and read the scriptures. So boom! Now we are in and can help teach. I know that I won't always be like that, but I'm glad that Heavenly Father knew I was frustrated and softened my heart toward this new thing so I could feel like I was doing something and not just wasting my time. It is only our zone that is doing this because it is brand new, so I'll keep you updated on how everything goes. The rest of the day and night we were seriously running around here and there and everywhere. We ate lunch while we did Teaching Center because it was just too busy and we didn't' have any other time during the day to do online work. We were so busy that we forgot to tell Apollo that we couldn't make out appointment and I feel so bad. Apollo has kind of stopped in his progression because he keeps all of the commitments and wants to be baptized but he won't go to church. The locals went over and explained that he couldn't be baptized if he didn't go to church and he said that he would go. I'm really hoping that he gets baptized before I go outbound which will probs be in about a month. If he goes every week, we can get it done!

Wednesday: Yesterday was thankfully less crazy than Tuesday. We had a zone service project and we went to Days for Girls and helped make reusable pads for girls that don't have access to those kinds of things around the world. I mainly cut and measured fabric with a sister in the district who is finishing her mission in the next few weeks! It was good to get to know her better and I feel as if she trusts me more now because I actually know her. We had more Teaching Center time yesterday which was a blessing and we found the biggest miracle, her name is Isabella. Long story short, she requested a Bible and has had a hard life and she is only 18. She has been to a few different churches and she just wants to know what is true. She was baptized twice and I explained to her priesthood authority and she wasn't really understanding it, so I tried a different way to explain it and she still didn't get it. This is all on our very first phone call, mind you. Eventually, she expressed a desire to join our church because she knew that it was a good church, so I invited her to be baptized by someone holding priesthood authority, the same kind that John the Baptist had when he baptized Jesus and she said yes with no hesitation! I explained to her that we like to set dates that we can work toward and asked if she would be baptized in a month on January 4th and she said yes. She is going to meet with the local sisters and they are going to get her a ride to church this Sunday. It. was. crazy. That never happens parents, literally never. When we called the local sisters, they were super crazy excited. They were basically screaming on the phone when we told them that she was already on date and that she was wanting to go to church. We are calling her in the next few days to go to know her better and try and help her understand the doctrine a little bit more. Right now she doesn't understand it too much I think, but we can help her! Please pray for Isabella that she will be able to understand what we teach her along with the local missionaries and she will stay on track to be baptized on the 4th!

Sister Safuan and I are still doing great. She is seriously the kindest person ever and I love her a lot. I feel like I haven't been feeling the joy of missionary work too much lately, but this past week I just feel so happy. Don't get me wrong, I am freezing and exhausted and not eating enough because we keep forgetting to pack dinner but I am super happy to be a missionary. I am finding a lot of joy in the work. There are a lot of factors but a big one is having a companion that wants to work that that is nice to me. I'm so grateful for her and I'm very grateful that Heavenly Father let us be together.

I love you both! I feel like so much more has happened but I can't remember. Basically though, besides those highlights, we are walking around the square all night talking to a million people. Mostly, they are members. We talk to a few guests but in general, the square is full of Jesus loving members of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. We have been inviting a lot of people to light the world and post on social media and more. I have actually grown to the point where I don't mind the members too much. I know, I know, I've changed so much;) But I can really recognize that they need help too and I don't know everyone, but they do, and by them reaching out to the people they know, that will change lives. My favorite invitation I've given so far has been to increase their Temple attendance, and to "repent and light the world bro". Those words came right from my lips, believe it or not. 

Well, love you guys and I hope that we will be able to call today. The schedule is kind of weird but we can try to make it work!! Miss you and talk to you soon!! 

Love 

Em