Sunday, April 30, 2017

Week 72: The Last Transfer



Monday, March 17th 2017

       Hello my favorite people!!! It's Sister Gore comin atcha with another amazing week of service to the Lord!!



      Pday was one of my favorites!! Some old missionary friends came into town and we all went to Sun Splash!! It's a "fun center" that has laser tag, go carts, mini golf, an arcade and a water park in the summer!! We just had a blast! 
That night we went on exchanges and Sister Thomas came to my area! There was one problem, we switched at pday and she left her proselyting clothes in her companion’s car and they had already left. So luckily we are about the same size. We ran home grabbed a skirt and headed to dinner! After dinner we had a lesson with J. and the YSA sisters so we could "pass her off" to them, since she is YSA age. Going to miss that girl! She has a love for Christ and for the Gospel that is just growing brighter and brighter!!



      Sister Thomas and I had an awesome day!! She is good about being happy in any circumstances and always seeking for the good! She never complains! I learned so much from her that day! We went tracting and no one answered....wahhh 😭But that's okay we had so much fun doing it! :)
We ate dinner with a single sister in our ward, Sister M0. She took us out to eat at a Mexican restaurant called Cabo's! So good!! I ate so much I had to unzip my skirt to let my belly expand hahaha I love food okay! Well she gave us great life advice, she was chalk full of it because she has been through SO many trials in her life! She told us "It's all true, all of the gospel is true, live it!" And "Do it all, live your life, take opportunities!" Love it!!




     
Saturday was a beautiful day!! I was able to go up to Gridley to witness the baptism of M.W! She glowed!! The gospel has brought so much light into her life! Her mom, grandma and little sister came to support her! It was so awesome! I was so blessed to have a small part in helping M.W, grateful to know her and to be a missionary! 
I was filled with fire and motivation to find, find find!! So we went tracting!! We met a lady named H. who is from Romania! She told us that she always prays for her children to find more light in the scriptures. We gave her a Book of Mormon and she is going to read Moroni 10! She took her bible, looked at me and said "Pick a number" so I said 12. She found a scripture in Colossians about peace, love, charity & long suffering. She then looks at Sister Tsalagi and does the same thing, except her scripture is about pride haha So she says "Well I don't know you and she doesn't know you, but God knows you." Hahaha it was hilarious!!



       We had a beautiful Easter Day!! We had a musical Sacrament meeting filled with the Spirit!! We spent some time saying goodbye to members since Sister Tsalagi is leaving :( She is going to Gridley and Sister Kikel is coming to be my last companion!! So crazy!! 
It's crazy to think that this is my last transfer!! Advice is more than welcome! I need all the help I can get. I'm just so grateful to have spent this time to serve my Heavenly Father and Savior! I know that He loves and He loves us!! 

Love y'all!


Ps Here are some of my favorite quotes from a few of the emails from President Marston!

“At some point the multitudinous sins of countless ages were heaped upon the Savior, but his submissiveness was much more than a cold response to the demands of justice. This was not a nameless, passionless atonement performed by some detached, stoic being. Rather it was an offering driven by infinite love.  This was a personalized, not a mass atonement.  Somehow, it may be that the sins of every soul were individually (as well as cumulatively)
accounted for, suffered for, and redeemed for, all with a love unknown to man.”                                 

Tad R. Callister
Twas battered and scarred, and the auctioneer
Thought it scarcely worth his while
To waste much time on the old violin,
But held it up with a smile:
“What am I bidden, good folks,” he cried,
“Who’ll start the bidding for me?”
“A dollar, a dollar”; then, “Two!” “Only two?
Two dollars, and who’ll make it three?
Three dollars, once; three dollars, twice;
Going for three—” But no,
From the room, far back, a gray-haired man
Came forward and picked up the bow;
Then, wiping the dust from the old violin,
And tightening the loose strings,
He played a melody pure and sweet
As a caroling angel sings.
The music ceased, and the auctioneer,
With a voice that was quiet and low,
Said, “What am I bid for the old violin?”
And he held it up with the bow.
“A thousand dollars, and who’ll make it two?
Two thousand! And who’ll make it three?
Three thousand, once, three thousand, twice,
And going, and gone!” said he.
The people cheered, but some of them cried,
“We do not quite understand
What changed its worth?.” Swift came the reply:
“The touch of a master’s hand.”
And many a man with life out of tune,
And battered and scarred with sin,
Is auctioned cheap to the thoughtless crowd,
Much like the old violin.
A “mess of pottage,” a glass of wine,
A game—and he travels on.
He’s “going” once, and “going” twice,
He’s “going” and almost “gone.”
But the Master comes, and the foolish crowd
Never can quite understand
The worth of a soul and the change that’s wrought
By the touch of the Master’s hand. 
In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Friday, April 28, 2017

Week 71: He is Risen!



Monday, April 10th 2017

Woozah! What a week!!! It rained and it poured! But there were a couple beautiful days too! 
P-Day Fun!


Grill Masters





Tuesday, Sister Crowther & I went on exchanges in the Rocklin 1st & 5th wards! We had a BLAST!! It was so fun to be her companion again, even if it was just for the day. We did lots of finding and got a few return appointments. We met with a man who wanted to bash but at the same time didn't want to be rude. You could physically see him trying his best to hold back haha.  It was interesting to watch. He isn't a fan of the Book of Mormon and doesn't see the point of Temples. He asked loaded questions and we couldn't say much because the Spirit wasn't there and I wasn't about to Bible bash with this guy because "contention is of the devil." So we bore our testimonies and left. 
Wednesday was great! Well kind of. I was exhausted and had the jitters all day and couldn't put my finger on why. But I finally got to meet the C’s! They are a hoot! They are friends with some members in Auburn that I knew and are interested in learning more about the church!! We got to know them and shared the Prince of Peace video with them! We asked them what Christ means to them and Pat said,"Refuge." How beautiful is that? Christ rescues us and He loves us so much!!




Thursday was MLC!! It was so fun to be back in Gridley and to see friends and learn from President & Sister Marston! We talked about the restoration and the Easter video! The first miracle is Christ's Atonement and the second is the Restoration of the Gospel! So we learned the importance of always teaching and testifying of the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ!! We practice taught with the Zone Leaders and it felt so good!! It felt so good to testify of my Savior and the Book of Mormon, even if it was a pretend lesson, the Spirit was so real!   We drove home and then met with A! She is friends with the K’s, members in our ward and Brother K. is in the mission presidency! Anyways, she is from Germany and grew up Catholic. She loves talking about God and has a lot of good questions about Mormons! She is a super busy woman but wants to keep learning more!
Friday morning we did service with a lady named Joy! She has a non profit organization called Baby Bliss Essentials! She collects and donates baby items to moms who are expecting who are in difficult circumstances. We sorted and folded baby clothes, I felt like I was back at Kid2Kid! Haha She took us to Subway and we had a great discussion about Gods love and how he has a plan for all of us! She loves how family oriented the gospel is so we gave her a Family Proclamation!! She loved it just by skimming over it!!
Saturday we brought J. to a baptism for the YSA Ward! Unfortunately we missed the actual baptism, but we made it for testimonies and the spirit was still SO strong!! We had an awesome lesson with her afterwards! She told us that she was having a really rough morning so she read the Book of Mormon!! How cool is that?!?! She already has a testimony of the Book of Mormon and that it will help her in her life!! She is SO awesome!! 
      We were finally able to see James!! It had been like two weeks!! We shared the Prince of Peace video with and talked to him about coming to church!! We were super bold and told him if he wants answers he needs to act on his faith!! He has a testimony; he just needs to act on it!
We visited with the R's and Sister R is the cutest! We shared the Prince of Peace video (SO GOOD) and talked about Christ's Atonement and love! He is always reaching out to us; we just need to reach back! She shared that her favorite story of Christ. It's the story of the woman with the issue of blood. She had so much faith that she didn't need him to touch her to believe she would be healed, she knew if she just touched his clothes she would be made whole. What an act of faith, to reach out to the Savior with full faith. That is how we are made whole, when we act on the faith that we already have, or even want to have!

    So that is my invitation to you, pray and ask God to give you the courage and strength to act on your faith! I know that He hears each of us individually and answers us as we individually need it!!
I love y'all SO much!

Sister Emily Gore

Thursday, April 27, 2017

Week 70: #PRINCEofPEACE



Monday, April 3rd 2017

      Well well well  another week has come and gone!! Weird! It was another AMAZING week of miracles and seeing Gods hand!


     Monday we did our usual Pday activities and then went on exchanges! Sister Rosa came with me and GB1! We had a blast! Our dinner’s backyard is Folsom Lake! So beautiful and such a tender mercy! It was beautiful and I just love being surrounded by Gods creations! He loves us SO much! 
Tuesday we had a lesson with J and her member friend L. We finished teaching the Restoration and talked about the Priesthood power and the effect it can have in our lives. J believes everything we teach but she doesn't apply it to herself. It's so sad! So we are trying to help her understand how this can change her life if she will let it! We had a very busy day of service and finding. We accidentally woke up a baby...trust the "Quiet, baby sleeping" signs...oops!
Wednesday was....miracles. That's all I got to say. We went tracting in the trailer park. Just to give you some context though, I was not in a good mood that morning. I was grumpy....yep missionaries sometimes are grouchy and today it was me. So we go and are knocking doors and I'm praying that we will see a miracle, I'm praying to teach and to have the spirit and for a softened heart. God answers prayers. We knocked on a door and a lady named Jan opened the door. Golden. Literally so prepared. She's met with missionaries before, read and marked up the Book of Mormon and has wanted to get baptized twice already. She let us in, we prayed with her, and invited her to take a church tour and meet with us! She is ALL in! We are so excited and SO grateful for God allowing us to meet her! 
We had a BUSY day after that! We practiced our musical number with our zone, had lessons with K & T, went visiting teaching with Sister Fergeson in GB2, ate dinner and did some door knocking!! Such a good day!
Sisters Gore and Orty


Sisters Gore and Rosa

Sisters Gore and Lloyd

Most of the Rocklin Zone

MTC group

Thursday was AWESOME!! It was Zone Conference! We met with Lincoln and Auburn zones in Auburn! It was fun to reminisce on good ole times there! Each ZC we are all asked to prepare a 5 minute talk on a topic and then President will pick 5 or 6 missionaries on the spot to speak. This cycles topic was "How has studying the Atonement made me a better missionary?" I knew as soon as I saw the email of announcing the topic that I would speak and guess who was the first one call up....yep me!  I was actually really grateful for the opportunity and really at peace. I really talked about Charity and love and as we love more we become more like the Savior. The spirit really helped me out because I don't remember what I said. Lol
Oh funny story! So my home girl Orty was sitting in front of me and we had to pee soooo bad!! So we were like okay we're gunna go at the break....then break time comes and President says "we're gunna skip then break and keep the spirit that we have here with us." I died. We sat for another hour before we split off for practice teaching and booked it to the restroom! Haha Practice teaching and the rest of conference went so well!! I learned SO much! Too much to even attempt to fit into this email. But I can share my testimony of how much Christ loves us. He was willing to come to earth, live a perfect live, be the example for us and then suffer, bleed and die for each and every single one of us. And it was all out of love. Pure love. He did it so we can repent, we can change, we can become better and so we can become more like Him. I am so incredibly grateful for my Savior and His perfect love.
Saturday was Conference and the greatest!! I literally need to go back and re-read/study all of the talks! I left my notebook behind so I can't share much, but I know that we have a living Prophet and Apostles on the earth today that receive revelation from God and help and teach us how we can be better and continue on the path back to Him! I would like to invite each of you to read the words of the Prophet and pray about his words! I know that you will get a confirmation in your heart that He is a messenger and mouth piece for God!! God is the same yesterday, today and forever and His is never ending and never changing!

     OH! The Easter video came out and it's all about how Jesus Christ brings peace and hope into our lives as we follow Him! Go to Mormon.Org and watch it! I promise it will bring peace and answers! 
I am grateful to be here! I'm grateful for Gods love and the enabling power of Jesus Christ's provided through His Atonement. God loves each of us! If you have a question, ask God! 

Love you lots!! 

Sister Emily Gore