Emily sent us the following email and pictures on Tuesday, May 27, 2014:

Hey Everybody!!

Transfers happened!  I am still in my area, but I have a new companion named Hermana Hardy.  I'll send you a picture of her next week.  I feel like I am in the MTC again.  

I have been a sad little missionary for the past couple of days, but I'm hoping that things get better.  On the up side, Hna. Blankinship (one of my favorite people ever) is just in the neighboring zone (and with all my other friends) which means that I still get to see her on preparation day.  We had a big running day yesterday with soccer and ultimate Frisbee.  I live for this time to be with friends and have this release. 

  

I am excited that Hna. Hardy and I will be able to practice our Spanish with each other.   After this transfer, she will only have one more, so her Spanish is better than mine and she has had a lot of practice teaching.  I think I can practice honing a lot of the "academic" skills of missionary work this transfer. 

Oh!  I spoke in sacrament meeting!  I talked about El Libro de Mormon and all the scriptures that talk about the profetas escribiendolo por un sabio proposito conocido por Dios, pero disconocido a ellos (profets writing the book of Mormon for a white purpose known to God, but unknown to them)  I felt like I did a good job and my two zone leaders were very complementary. 

Teodoro is struggling with his health again!  He went to the hostpital and wasn't able to go to church because he couldn't get out of bed.  I think we should adopt them too!  They are so sweet and they would love to come and spend time with Grammy and Bompa and work in the yard and cook and speak in Spanish!  Teodoro could be Bompa's number one helper for anything Gardening, constructing the tower, assembling anything!  Teodoro just loves to be helpful and he is the most sincerely grateful little human being. 

I have a love/hate relationship with Lillian.  She is having us teach her humble and prepared friend Soila about the gospel.  Lillian is doing her reading in the Book of Mormon and I am so proud of her for that!  I met Lillian because she is one of the menos activos that I am supposed to take care of.  Lillian has made good on a lot of the commitments I have given her and I am watching her testimony of El libro de Mormon grow.  Back to Soila!  Soila is so sweet and has a very hard life.  She only met Lillian about 2 months ago and Lillian helped her see that she needs the gospel in her life.  We prayed about a date for Soila and felt good about setting the 15 of Junio for her.  We talked with Soila about it and made a Calendar.  Soila can barely read, yet she is going to start reading the Book of Mormon everyday and we are going to call her and talk about the verse(s) that she was able to get through.  She feels the spirit very strongly and has felt better ever since we started having lessons with her. 

I like that people's lives will start changing just after the first time that we meet with them and as soon as they start keeping commitments that we leave them, they will feel more of the Holy Ghost and start receiving blessings from Heavenly Father.  It's cool how the Holy Ghost will come and act on people while they are being introduced to the gospel and if they accept the message within a reasonable amount of time for their person and their situation, the Holy Ghost never has to leave them again.  These people have to act on what they feel, or else the Holy Ghost stops working on them.  This is an interesting principle that you can apply to members already.   When we get promptings of the Holy Ghost, they are time sensitive and we need to act on them right then.  Something that seems inspired in the moment just might be inspired for that moment.  If you feel like there is a potential you need to get ahold of or an investigator that might need a phone call, frequently 3 days later is outside of the window. 

I love Maria Linda.  I don't know if I've told you too much about her, but I call her Maria Linda because she is just so cute.  She is very smart and reasonable.  She is humble and teachable.  Her husband is wonderful too.  When we were teaching him about the restauracion to catch him up to where she is in the lessons, he kept getting side tracked about the form in which we baptize.  It kept throwing him off that in the bible it says to be baptized in Jesus Christ's name, yet we baptize "in the name del padre, y del hijo, y del espiritu santo".  We were able to keep this question at bay because it wasn't the moment to explain that and a testimony of the restauracion helps people accept every other principle.  I read in the scriptures where I knew I could learn about baptism and I read in 3 nephi 11. 

 When I read this chapter, I was touched my the Savior's pleading words and attention to this very sacred and important matter.  So many times he tells us that THIS is his doctrine.  I felt a very overwhelming peace and trust that this truly is the answer to how a valid contract must be made with Heavenly Father.  This is almost the question of the ages: "How does one enter into the kingdom of the Lord?"  People have spent lifetimes seeking and inventing solutions to this question of the soul.  How lucky we are to have the answer purely revealed to us in the Book of Mormon and to not be blinded by tradicion or invented concepts that we've decided make sense as truth because we had holes in our understanding. 

I know the Book of Mormon is the word of God and that is was written for a wise purpose known to God.  I know that the Book of Mormon is the tool that God safely protected in the earth until the opportune time to bring it to light as voices from the dust, to realize the immortality and eternal life of man. 

Love you!

 Love, me

Emily and her former companion, Hermana Blankinship, whom she LOVED!