Week 6: Miracles

Hey everyone!

This week has been such a wonderful week and I have really seen the miracles happen. Monday didn't start out the best and I found myself really cranky and down. I had a bad attitude and didn't have the spirit with me. So horrible I know :( I was really tired so I ended up taking a nap when we got home from emails and grocery shopping. One thing that is frustrating to me is my companion snores like crazy so I can't ever sleep. I probably get like 4 or 5 hours of uninterrupted sleep so then it makes me more cranky in the mornings. We have thought about getting me some ear plugs or something, but I totally feel bad for even telling her about it because I know she can't really help it. Anyway so I just never look forward to sleep unless she is out of the room. My pillow and my zebra pillow pet have become my best friend with blocking out sound haha

Tuesday we had a lot of people fall through, but we were able to get a lot of the paper work part done with updating progress records and all that stuff you never hear about unless you come on to a mission lol and we decided to go down the ward list and call all the less active people and set up a day to go visit them...that makes this week become super busy! but that is good. I was actually surprised at how many less active members were really nice about us coming over...its not like they dont know we are there to teach them stuff. So that just lifted my spirits at how people were all nice and welcoming. 

Wednesday is always our busy day. We play volleyball with the less active members and then go volenteer at St. Vincents store. I was the cashier this week and it brought back many memories of working at Aeropostale haha I messed up a few times....its ok though, its not like I am dealing with money or anything haha

Thursday we had our zone conference and that was pretty cool! I got to meet my friend I met through Facebook on one of the "missionary girlfriend" groups. Sister Hatch is so nice and I hope I will be able to be her companion during my mission. She started her mission in January and her boyfriend is serving in Georgia! So funny how close Cody and her missionary are and we are in the same mission. Zone conference went very well and I was able to get to know my mission president and his wife a lot better. Haha Sister Cutler will never stop reminding me of my mom! she seriously looks just like her! its so crazy. And she is the sweetest just like you Mom :) 

Then we had dinner at the bishop's house and i had the best burger ever! It is a burger with cheese in the MIDDLE and Bacon coats the burger i think...aw the best! :) you know my love for meat :D

Friday was the really really good day! We had a few appointments and in between we kept getting media referrals sent to our phone...2 in a row and then some elders in our area sent us one! it was such a blessing and I wondered what we had done right that day. We made sure we thanked Heavenly Father and we went to contact those people. Sadly 2 of them didn't work out...the addresses were not correct, but we were able meet other people that we could teach. We ran into a lady that spoke Spanish and Sister Barnes was able to speak a little Spanish to her and ask her if she would like to be taught more about the gospel. We referred her over to the Spanish Elders. We hope that goes well for them. 

That night there was an 8 year old girl that got baptized and even though her family mostly members and they are all very active we were able to meet the girls spanish teacher that she invited and talk to her and her husband about the gospel and about baptism. We hope for them to become our new investigators soon! :)

Friday was just such a good day and I slept pretty good that night.

Saturday was kind of a more relaxed day. nothing really marvelous happened, but we met with Ellen again and I just love her so much! she is amazing and so we decided to start teaching her because she needs to get baptized. the sad thing is she is moving because her husband and daughter live down in Florida and our plan is to baptize her and have Cody baptize her husband and daughter then she will move down there and she and her family can live together forever haha just kidding, her husband is in Tampa but it was a good thought i had :p but we want to have her be baptized before she moves so that she will be able to have an instant family down in Florida and then she can help the rest of her family join...haha Ellen is great though. She gave us some presents and some nail polish and eye shadow yay! My nails are pretty again. 

This next Saturday there is a baptism. The browns are investigators of the elders and they are so nice! we are all excited for them to be baptized because they are so solid and strong in the church! 

I am so grateful for my mission and I am so grateful for the opportunity to learn and grow. I love this gospel so much and I know it brings true happiness :) I want to share it with everyone. I know that when you follow Heavenly Father and be Christlike that you will truly be happy. I love you all and I will talk to you later :)

Go check out my Mormon.org profile! http://www.mormon.org/me/F2ZH/Emily It is up and it looks good! Share the gospel any chance you get!

Also next week since it is memorial day my Pday will be on Tuesday so dont panic when i dont email on monday:) love you all

Love,

Sister Emily Sarah Eaton

ONE MONTH DOWN! 

 The Eaton road I was trying to show you guys before. Just kind of funny and there is also a Taylor st. and a Wisconsin and Florida Ave. haha My companion and I are planning on going and getting pictures at the state name streets because we thought it was funny and so perfect! 

Green Bay Packers stadium

Happy Mothers Day and 1 month down!

Dear Family and Friends,

I hope all of you had a wonderful week this week and that your Mother's day went well! It was so good to be able to talk to my family after a month on Skype. The family in my ward, the Sabourins, were nice enough to let my companion and I come over for dinner and Skype our family. I made sure I thanked them a lot! This week was kind of crazy and we had a lot go on. Tuesday we had a lesson with Cathy, she is an investigator that the Spanish Elders referred to us. She lives in sort of a group home for older disabled people and so sometimes it is hard to have a discussion with her when there are a lot of other people walking around and asking who you are and what you are doing there, but the lessons are going well and she seems interested in it all. She is really nice and loves Christ and loves talking about religion, but for now she keeps saying she just wants to be educated about our religion so we pray that her heart will change soon as we continue to teach her. Then we had a district meeting and it was about an hour drive so we had to make our lesson with her short. The meeting went well and we just made new goals for this week. After we got home we had another lesson with Anna (investigator). She is the one that goes to the Pentecostal church so it has been interesting to teach her. She is a sweet girl and really wants to serve a mission like we do, but we keep reminding her that she needs to be baptized and read the Book of Mormon first. So that is the biggest challenge we have right now with her. She won't even touch the Book of Mormon because she says she will get a bad feeling about it. We just keep praying that she will learn to listen to the Holy Ghost and not whatever else she is hearing. The one thing that was kind of scary but funny was she brought up the Gift of Tongues...oh boy was that weird haha luckily she didn't start doing some voodoo tribal thing and we were able to get back on track with our lesson about the Plan of Happiness. 

Wednesday we went and did our weekly service at the local Catholic thrift store. Sister Barnes and I just stay up at the front and ring people up. She does the cash register and I am the bagger. Brings back the very few memories I have working at Aeropostale lol Guess that was good for at least one thing. I know how to bag things really quick and say, "Thanks have a great day!" haha. and No I don't say would you like a BEG with that!!! After that we go visit a less active, Sister Watson. She kind of frustrates me because I feel like there is nothing more we can do for her. She still won't go to church because she has all her excuses so I feel that our visits are just a waste of time, but we still keep going anyway. She needs a lot of praying for her haha

We had another lesson with Anna and we attempted to finish the Plan of Happiness with her. I think we finished it. That went well but she still won't read the Book of Mormon. So we just keep praying for that and I think we will meet with her again soon.

Thursday we had a lesson with Judy (investigator). She is Catholic and a lady in our ward referred her to us because it is her mother. Things have been going well with Judy, our lessons end up going longer because she has a lot of questions. We can really see that things are kind of "clicking" to her as she will compare her religion and our religion and the Bible all together. The other day she asked about why Catholics don't have prophets but in the Bible there are prophets and the LDS church has them too...That was cool because it was like a big epiphany that just happened! So she is doing well. We are inviting her to be baptized sometime in June. 

Later that day we got a call from a less active member asking us to help them move. We thought it was a perfect opportunity to maybe help me want to come back to church. The elders and us all helped them, but it ended up taking the whole rest of the day and luckily we got everything in the moving truck before it started to rain. 

Friday we also go and do service for a non member helping her with her non profit business. She has an organization that helps welcome newcomers in Green Bay. We will just put the folders and information together. Then we went and visited a less active couple. The Augustines are probably in their 70's and they really aren't that inactive. They come to Sacrament meeting and Sunday school but then they will go home because they don't want to leave their cats home alone  for a long time...that is kind of frustrating. Brother Augustine still doesn't have the Melchizedek priesthood so that is why we still visit them. But Sister Barnes has told me that the whole time she has been there nothing has changed. Praying for them a lot. They have 3 cats...which is fine but it isn't my favorite house to go to because it really reaks...sorry but its true.

Robert and Samantha are our other investigators. They have been for about a year  I guess. They need to be married before they get baptized so we are helping them work on that. We have a baptismal date set for them in July.

Saturday was the worse and also the best day (besides Mothers day of course) this week. I woke up feeling really sick and so I stayed in bed until about 11. I felt really bad that we didn't stay on the study schedule, but Sister Barnes was nice and told me not to worry. She said it was fine and that I needed it. So we didn't get going until about 12:30. But once we got out things really picked up and I really got to feel the Holy Ghost with us as we did our best. We tracted down one street and were able to talk to many people. We met a cute little family that seemed interested in family history and then we also gained a new investigator and we will be returning to teach him more about the gospel. I was so surprised at how many people didn't just slam their doors on us. They acutually would let us speak after saying "We are missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints". haha So that was a big blessing and it really pumped me up more as I didn't have the best beginning of the day.

Sunday was awesome and I am so glad I got to talk to most of my family! I was so happy to see Grandma Strebel. I wish I could have seen Bernie. Totallly forgot to ask about her haha oops. But so glad everyone is doing well! I love you all! I do have my countdown pictures for my 1 month down and for Cody's 8 months down! BUT sadly I left my camera at home this time so next week I will send out the pictures :) Thank you Rachel for distributing out my weekly emails and being such a great sister! I am sorry I didn't get to talk to you Adam and Le'a and Family but know I still love you all and miss you so much! Yay it is pouring outside :) :) Have a wonderful week everyone and pray for me and the people I teach! Teach the gospel any second you can and help the missionaries in your ward! It makes things a lot easier. Our members don't help us much so it is sad. Ok love you!

Love Sister Emily Sarah Eaton

Elder Uchtdorf

Emily told us a few weeks ago how they were able to see Elder Uchtdorf on the temple grounds in Provo.
Here is the story about it and pictures. Emily is in one of the photos of him at the temple grounds. Look closely!

https://www.lds.org/church/news/president-uchtdorf-delivers-easter-message-to-missionaries?lang=eng

Week 4

Hey everyone!

This week has seriously gone by so fast and I love it! Monday night Sister Barnes and I were invited over to an investigator's house for dinner. Her name is Ellen and is soo great! She is fun and a spunky woman. We love her and her spaghetti was amazing :) Her house was gorgeous and I just wanted to take all these pictures of it haha but I thought she would think that was weird so I didn't, but it was just an Interior Designer's dream! Every room had a theme and I was just in Heaven haha I took mental notes in my head. While we were eating she mentioned that she does hair and make up and I instantly thought of Natalie haha then I was a weirdo and blurted out if she could trim my bangs! ah I have no idea why I did that, I just met her , but she said she would be more that happy to trim them for me. I was so surprised she didn't think I was rude or something. So after dinner she gave us a tour around her house and she has 2 EMMY Awards on her front table! What?! So we got pictures with it haha and then we went downstairs to her salon area and she trimmed them in like 2 minutes! Awesome! It brought back some wonderful memories when Natalie would cut my hair and we would just have fun talking and such. I felt like I was home again for a little bit :) After that we went back up stairs and she taught us how to napkin fold haha it was funny how Ellen was so interested in it, I guess she did it for one of her jobs or something, we still had a lot of fun though! We showed her the "Because of Him" Video on YouTube and the spirit was definitely there! I love this video so much and I suggest that all of you watch it if you still haven't. It makes me cry every time. So after that we went home, but we really hope that touched her heart and sparks her interest to be baptized because she really needs to be! 

Tuesday we had our district meeting and made some goals for the week. Afterwards we went to a smoothie place, like Jamba Juice, with the other Sisters and visited a little bit. Tuesday wasn't the best day though. Just no luck with finding people. People up here are so closed minded and will always say they have already been saved. One lady yesterday came to her door and said, "Um I'm in bed.." haha oops but really it was 12:30 but whatever! So that is what is frustrating sometimes. People just don't even let us talk. They open and shut the door. oh well though, I just laugh.

Wednesday we played volleyball at the church with some member and non member women. I guess they have been doing this for 26 years so they really get into it and stuff. It is kind of strange to me just because when you play sports in the church you shouldn't be so competitive, so it's not my most favorite thing to go do because they really play...but i guess i am just a baby haha they are all in their 40s and 50s too so that is even weirder...not because they play volleyball but they act like they are in high school and each point in super important...oh well. my companion likes to go so i just follow. Later, around dinner time we went to the University to see if we could find more people, but no success.

Thursday we taught one of the member's mother who is catholic. That went very well and she seems really interested. Sister Barnes and I are both very excited to teach her and want to help her learn and understand. 

Please keep me in your prayers. I am really struggling with teaching the lessons and feeling the spirit. It is hard for me to know what to say. Everyone always tells me to just open my mouth, but it isn't that easy. I want to help people know about Christ, I do have such a strong desire. I want to help people find happiness, but I get scared and I feel like I fail every time because my companion will end up talking the whole time. I don't know what is wrong with me, but I know giving up isn't an option. I just need to keep going and be super patient with the Lord. I really appreciate all the support I have from all my family and friends! Thank you so much. I know that this gospel is so true! I have seen it bless so many lives and especially mine. I am so grateful for my family and that I will be able to live with them for eternity. It means so much to me to be with the family and my own family and especially my husband for forever. I am really striving to become the best I can be and have the best relationship with Heavenly Father. I know that without him I wouldn't be who I am today! I love you all so much and I will see you soon!

Love Sister Emily Sarah Eaton 

Week 3: Green Bay Area

Hello family and friends :)

So wow I am in Wisconsin now and one thing is I AM FREEZING! That is honestly the thing I hate the most and struggle with, but I am trying my best to be tough. So Tuesday we flew out and it was the weirdest plane experience ever! So we flew out to Denver which was fine, just an hour and it was really cool to see all the mountains from above! I seriously left like I was in Lord of the Rings haha I really needed to sleep though because we had to wake up at 1 am but I never could get myself to fall asleep. We landed and had about 2 hours there I think. I was able to call home and talk to Rachel and Ruby haha I was trying to hard to hold back the tears because I miss Ruby and all the little ones so much! I was heartbroken to hear that the pine tree in front of my room is being chopped down! ah no! I don't know why, but I am just super upset about it haha I don't know when I will get over it. But I guess you are the expert Mom with plants so if it needed to go then it needed to go. Anyway, the second plane ride was sort of a nightmare. I had a small headache and my companions were getting on my nerves because they kept leaving me when we were at the airport so I was tired and super cranky. My plan was to just sleep on the plane the whole way there. We sat down in our seats and yay for me I got the seat where the -100 degree air was blowing out on my feet...perfect. Then we got up in the air and I just felt so dizzy and more sick. I was mad because now I couldn't sleep because I wasn't comfortable. haha flying over Nebraska and Iowa (i think) was the most boring thing ever. So I would doze in and out but I kept waking up because I would be nervous the plane would crash...which is weird because I am not afraid of flying. I love heights, so that was just weird. By the time we got there I was hot and cold all over and oh...DEAF! lol I couldn't hear a thing. I don't mean to complain here...it was just a super weird experience. So we all landed and went to go find the president and his wife. That went ok but I just didn't feel good. Then the president told us we could only bring our small carry on and the rest would stay in the trailer overnight. I was just not happy about that. The stuff in my carry on was all my books and journals...No clothes or pjs. I was thinking, "seriously?" I was able to trade my carry on for my suitcase with my clothes in it, but I didn't have my toothbrush or anything...so it was either clothes or clean teeth...haha gross i know. So over all the first day was just ugh and I couldn't wait to go to bed! 

My new companion is Sister Barnes. She is from South Jordan, Utah, but traveled the world most of her life so she technically didn't grow up there, but her family lives there. She is 23 and will be going home in about 3 months. She is super nice and we get along very well. Ok don't think I am crazy here...but she reminds me a lot of Marianna, BUT nice and fun Marianna haha Its just weird though because she sounds just like her minus the bossiness. So that is good. We live with a member in Green Bay, who is super nice but i don't think she believes in heat! Her house is a fridge and Sister Barnes said she hasn't turned it on once since she has been there for 2 transfers...Lovely...So that is really hard for me and we don't want to be complaining to her because we don;t want to offend her or anything. So we just deal with it. but luckily Heavenly Father answered my prayers and had Cody send me a zebra blanket! YES! I was seriously jumping for joy because I am soo cold. It was so amazing. We haven't seen the lakes or anything yet. I only saw them from the plane.

Happy birthday to Alex , Grandma, and Rachie! I love you guys and I hope your birthdays are amazing! I am so excited for Alex to get baptized! I know that will be so great!

Oh guess what is crazy Mom! Do you remember Jeffery Steiner from my elementary days?! Well apparently he is in my mission! So weird. He came up to me when we got our companions and he was talking to me and asked if I remembered him...haha I had to look at his name tag because he sounds way different and is like 100 feet tall! So ya that was strange and a bit awkward but I laughed because I haven't seen him since 6th grade.
 

Ok Mothers Day! So we are going to be able to skype i believe. It will be around 3:30 for you guys. Aaron needs to bring his iPad just in case because I think Facetime and Skype will be used. So I will either call Aaron or Rachel and Kevin. 

This week has pretty much been a blur, but we got 3 new investigators. 2 of them were found while tracting (yes Dad I know I spelled it wrong last time! haha) We will be visiting them again this week. We get to teach people in the ghetto yay!... Still adjusting here. I also got to speak on sunday, just a short intro of me and my testimony. I knew that was coming. I could totally hear my missionary accent (you know how they will have those? They will talk a certain way?), that was weird and on Saturday we were able to attend a few baptisms for the spanish branch. They offered us headphones for translation but i refused! I was surprised at how much i still know! haha so there you go Dad there is the part where I learn spanish for you! haha I love you all but I must go again! Please be safe and don't let that pine tree fall on my room! Tell everyone hi for me and keep praying for me! Also if someone could pray that the Wisconsin will mysteriously move closer to the sun that would be amazing! I am pretty sure my companion is sick of me saying that it is cold every 2 seconds. hehe xoxoxoxo 

Love Sister Emily Sarah Eaton

 oh and PS I seriously feel like I am in the movie "The Village" haha there are woods everywhere and I am just waiting for the weird creature in a red robe to pop out in our backyard lol Then there is me with my little red riding hood coat...just perfect! Just thought that was funny! :) love you all

They live on London Rd which intersects Eaton Rd!

Sister Eaton and Sister Barnes from South Jordan

President and Sister Cutler