Can I just begin by saying – I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY. Seriously.\u00a0 It is one of the most empowering and moving things to sing “Called to Serve” with this army of missionaries.<\/p>\n
This has been the hardest week so far (ha, it’s only been three weeks) – but, I have learned so much.\u00a0 It’s been hard because for some reason the homesickness has hit me.\u00a0 There have been so many things that I have wanted to call and talk to Mom about – so many instances where I just want advice or to talk about something.\u00a0 Because I can’t call Mom right away, instead I turn to my Heavenly Father in a silent prayer.\u00a0 As I pray so much out here, my relationship with my Father in Heaven is strengthening and I feel His arms around me every day.\u00a0 It’s an empowering, inspiring, humbling, and an emotional thing for me to write about, and it’s really hard to express in words.\u00a0 That’s going to be the focus of my email today – that God answers prayers.\u00a0 It has been a theme for me.<\/p>\n
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Some funny stories:<\/p>\n
Last week, I had to go in with my immunization record.\u00a0 They told me I needed one more shot, which I thought they would say to come back in a couple of weeks or something.\u00a0 Not quite.\u00a0 It was more: “Okay, we’re going to give you your shot in a minute, go wait in line.”\u00a0 Well, I need more than one minute to mentally prepare for a shot.\u00a0\u00a0 There’s a sign that says “If you have a history of fainting, please let us know.”\u00a0 Well, I let them know.\u00a0 And they didn’t let my companion come with me.\u00a0 Luckily, Anziano Valentine needed a shot too.\u00a0 So, right when they were about to give me the shot, the nurse told me I could shake his hand the whole time.\u00a0 So, I squeezed tightly and shook Anziano Valentine’s hand.\u00a0 It was pretty funny, but I’m glad that he was there, because – I know this is pathetic – I came very close to fainting \ud83d\ude42 But, I didn’t!<\/p>\n
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Also, it seems that all the sisters are getting sick. Seriously, it’s so true… sister missionaries are sick all the time<\/i>.\u00a0 I don’t really get it – maybe I just don’t realize it when I’m sick or maybe I have a really strong immune system, I don’t know.\u00a0 I’m feeling fine. Well, today I am having a lot of difficulty breathing, but I think that’s just allergies or something. Because everyone seems to have some sort of cold (and one sister had pneumonia, yikes), our room is like an orchestra at night.\u00a0 Someone snores, then someone coughs, then another person snores, then someone moves on their bed which squeaks quite loudly, and then someone starts talking or moaning.\u00a0 No. Joke. I wish I could video tape this, or snapchat video it, haha. Luckily I have ear plugs.\u00a0 And I’ve started doing these breathing exercises and such that really seem to be helping!<\/p>\n
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I am in love with the Italian language.\u00a0 I have been studying the Book of Mormon and Preach My Gospel in Italian during my language study time (since I know the grammar already) and I feel that I am progressing much faster than I ever have before.<\/p>\n
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We have taught at the TRC to Italian speaking members of the church. We love the TRC – it is probably one of the highlights of my week.\u00a0 We learn so much from them, and we love asking them to make commitments to share the gospel.<\/p>\n
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This last week we taught Sebastian and Rosalba.\u00a0 My heart is going out to them, as I pray for them each night and try to find ways to answer their concerns.\u00a0 We taught Rosalba a week ago.\u00a0 Initially, she told us she was already religious and didn’t need anymore in her life. But as we began to teach her and share with her the story of Joseph Smith, we realized she doesn’t quite believe in God, and her prayers are all written and have never been heartfelt for her.\u00a0 She told us (and this is a rough translation) “God answers Joseph’s prayers and He answers your prayers, but He doesn’t answer mine.”\u00a0 My heart went out to her.\u00a0 I thought of times in my life where I have felt that way.\u00a0 In that moment, we felt prompted to teach her how to pray.\u00a0 We testified about the power of prayer.\u00a0 We teach her tomorrow, and we are excited to see if she is continuing to pray.\u00a0 Sebastian had a similar idea – except he refused to pray. He has talked to lots of missionaries before, but has never felt comfortable with any of them.\u00a0 Sebastian thinks about God all of the time, but won’t pray to Him either.\u00a0 We testified that God loves him, and that we know that He wants to hear from him.\u00a0 At the end of the lesson, we asked Sebastian to pray.\u00a0 He was quite reluctant and didn’t want to.\u00a0 We said – “C’e la fa. C’e la fa” which means “You can do it.\u00a0 You can do it.”\u00a0 Sebastian prayed with such sincere heart, it was a wonderful experience.<\/p>\n
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As I face different challenges, I am learning from Sebastian’s example and seeking to pray more sincerely and with all of my heart.\u00a0 A simple example – I prayed all weekend that I could see Ellie.\u00a0 I haven’t really seen her that much, and I just needed to see a familiar face and talk to her.\u00a0 (I miss my roommates a lot..) At the temple walk on Sunday we ran into each other and we caught up for 20 minutes.\u00a0 It wasn’t coincidence, and I was so, so, so grateful.\u00a0 I pray to stay awake, and I do.\u00a0 I pray to be able to love the people that I spend 24 hours a day with and I am filled with so much love for them, I can’t believe it.\u00a0 I pray to feel comfort when I am lying awake at night staring at the ceiling thinking – is this real life?\u00a0 I pray for my family, for my roommates back home, for my friends in the mission field, for my friends at BYU, for my freshman students from last year, for the girl who was crying in the bathroom, and for the people that I will meet in Italy. I pray to feel the spirit, and I pray that others will have the open mind to feel the Spirit and let it enter their hearts.<\/p>\n
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It is an amazing time to be at the MTC.\u00a0 Today was a historic day, because for the first time in history, there were 25 more sisters than Elders that entered the MTC (the crossguard told us as we were walking back from the temple). Wow.\u00a0 I love being here, and even though it’s so crowded, it’s so exciting that it’s so crowded! So many missionaries.\u00a0 So many youth that have conviction and the desire to convert the world. These times are historic, and we are a part of it.\u00a0\u00a0 Last night, we heard from Marcus Nash of the 70.\u00a0 Wow.\u00a0 Every week I am blown away by the devotionals and lessons and speakers.\u00a0 He told us that we have been preparing to serve a mission even before we came to this Earth.\u00a0\u00a0 We have been called to do this for a long time, and we need to be loyal to that calling by working hard every day.\u00a0 He shared a touching story about sending his oldest son on a mission. Right before his son departed he told him – “Don’t hold anything back.”\u00a0 When his son returned he told his Dad – “Dad, I didn’t hold anything back.”\u00a0 Not only did that make me think of my Dad here on Earth, I thought about our journeys here.\u00a0 When I return to my Heavenly Father I will tell him – “Dad, I didn’t hold anything back.”\u00a0 On my mission, I will continue to immerse myself in this work and pray with all energy of heart.\u00a0 He said, “Follow the master fully, because you’ve been preparing for this for a long, long time.”<\/p>\n
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I would encourage all of you to do the same! Don’t hold anything back!<\/p>\n
Smile! Another devotional speaker told us to “Be a visual aid for what you’re teaching.” A temple worker told me today I would convert the entire country of Italy with my glowing smile – and I hope that I can always continue to smile amidst the difficulties of the mission.<\/p>\n
I am so happy to be a missionary, and I am so happy to have the knowledge that I am a daughter of God.\u00a0 I want to share this knowledge with the world.\u00a0 I am eternally grateful for my Savior, Jesus Christ.\u00a0 Because of Him, my life has color, flavor, hope, and meaning. Grateful isn’t enough of a word – I am forever indebted to Him for His sacrifice.\u00a0 That’s what this is all about – inviting God’s children to come unto Him.\u00a0 Because He loves them.\u00a0 All He asks of us is to have faith unto repentance, be baptized and receive the blessings of the Holy Ghost, and to continue to strive to follow Him, enduring to the end.<\/p>\n
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Sono una figlia di Dio.\u00a0 So che Dio mi ama. Io so che Dio responde alle nostre preghiere. Amo il mio Padre Celeste con il mio cuore tutto.\u00a0 So che quando pregho con il mio cuore tutto\u00a0 Dio mi rispondera.\u00a0 So che Il Libro di Mormon e la parola di Dio. So che quando leggiamo Il Libro di Mormon possiamo venire a Cristo e sentire il Suo amore.<\/p>\n
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Vi voglio bene.\u00a0 Prego per noi ogni giorno e penso di voi spesso.<\/p>\n
Sorella Emma Strong<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Can I just begin by saying – I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY. Seriously.\u00a0 It is one of the most empowering and moving things to sing “Called to Serve” with this army of missionaries. This has been the hardest week so far (ha, it’s only been three weeks) – but, I have learned so much.\u00a0 It’s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/emmaletters.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/emmaletters.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/emmaletters.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emmaletters.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emmaletters.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=262"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/emmaletters.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":264,"href":"https:\/\/emmaletters.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262\/revisions\/264"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/emmaletters.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=262"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emmaletters.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=262"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emmaletters.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=262"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}