September 20, 2005
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From a letter dated September 19, 2005
Dear friends and fellow xangans,
Greetings from Glendale. Words of advice: When feeding missionaries, don't feed them spaghetti. They ate it yesterday and will eat it tomorrow.
Today, "p-day", we went and climbed Mt. Wilson. I had to be driver. Of course you may or may not remember my first and only experience with a mountain. Cars don't make things any better. Driving on hairpin curves next to cliffs is not my idea of relaxation. Nor is hiking up and down steep trails. At least this time it was daylight.
Driving in general is very hard on me. I am the driver no matter what. Driving in Los Angeles is not fun. Finding a parking spot on a busy road is not fun. Parallel parking is not fun. Etc.
The people are fun though. Californians are way nicer than Chicagoans. Lots of diversity here too. The Asian population is huge. Hispanic too, obviously. And where I am there are tons of Armenians. Anoush, if you still read this, there is a restaurant named "Anoush's" that makes me think of you often. It's close to Burbank. While I'm in the mood for personal notes: Jori Widen, I need your address. Others, Johny-boy, Megan, Lisa- I will write back to you soon I promise. Time is so scarce and precious here. I tell you all: Though it's hard for me to write back promptly and in detail, receiving letters from you all make my day. Your letters are the only evidence I have that I fit into the world. Here I just stand out. Your letters anchor me to home.
The work here is absolutely amazingly great. Saturday we taught an 80 year old about the Restoration. She was confused. She wasn't getting anything out of the many churches she attended. They weren't helping her understand the Bible. Slowly her LDS neighbor with the help of the Elders began to teach her from the Bible. She understood what they taught. So my companion and I taught her about the establishment of Christ's Church with Apostles and Prophets. We taught about the "famine of the word of God"- the Apostasy the scriptures talk of. Then we talked about the Restoration. She told us it all finally made sense. It all fell into place. We watched the Restoration video. We cried. The spirit bore witness to her that these things were true, and she told us that. I can't describe my excitement to hear her believe Joseph Smith. She's coming to Church. Soon we will have her committed to baptism.
Events like that are the tender mercies of the Lord that sustain me through this 2-year mission experience. Being a missionary is hard, but as I see people recognize the voice of the spirit, I know this is where I need to be. When I see people make commitments and begin to become better people, I get excited.
I wish I had more time to tell you more stories. We are really busy though and have little time on the Internet. Feel free to write me with questions and comments, but, again, responses will be delayed. Take care,
Elder Embree
Picture of Daniel at the Mission Home with the President and his Wife
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