Month: January 2007

  • From a letter dated 1/29/2007

    Dear family, friends, and Xangans,

    I was transfered a week ago from Walnut to Chino/Pomona. It is quite the culture shock for me- an uptown boy. Here we have cows, mullets, and strange odors. I miss Elder Delgado, but my new companion, Elder Arballo is cool.

    Most of all I miss the Creekside ward. I fell in love with the people of that area. I have never been to a place where the people love each other that much. It became my home.

    To give you an example of how much the people there meant to me, one of my investigators from that area showed up here in Chino for Church last Sunday. He surprised me- saying that he wanted me to know how much the ward had missed me that morning. I was really touched. I hope that he gets baptized soon. He has become one of my closest friends. He is a big black guy- a teacher and a football coach.

    Most of all I will miss Jose, Maria, and Madison, three of my converts from that ward. They truly are my best friends. I remember meeting Jose and Maria my first week in the area. Now they are active members, living completely different lives that when I met them. And then Madison- she has such a future. I had such sucess in Walnut, I fear that I won't be able to replicate whatever it was I did there.

    The moment I came to this ward, it was very obvious why I was called here. The transfer surprised me, but I can see the Lord's hand in it. The missionary history here is not very good. Elder Arballo and I are determined to fix it. We are motivated to work hard. I look at the area like a challenge- a challenge to be tackled. We must start by winning the trust of the ward members.

    We made a promise to each other that we would always hit our standard- 15 lessons min. per week. Last week we taught 17. We also are teaching- not just hanging out. The result: Saturday we committed a girl for baptism. We set a date for the 18th of Feb. When we asked her, she looked at us like she thought we would never ask. Of course she wanted to be baptized!

    We are being agressive and ambitious, and I am excited. I am at that point in my mission where I am ready to do awesome.

    Love you all,

    Elder Embree

     

  • From a letter dated January 16, 2007

    Dear Family, Friends, and Xangans,

    I just read the neatest scripture today. It is something that the prophet Alma said after his miraculous conversion.

    Nevertheless, after wading through much tribulation, repenting nigh unto death, the Lord in mercy hath seen fit to snatch me out of an everlasting burning, and I am born of God. My soul hath been redeemed from the gall of bitterness and bonds of iniquity. I was in the darkest abyss; but now I behold the marvelous light of God. My soul was racked with eternal torment; but I am snatched, and my soul is pained no more" (Mosiah 27:29).

    What struck me was Alma's choice of the word snatch. What a strange word to use. What a fitting word. He was snatched from his torment by the mercy of Jesus Christ, and he saw the light of God. I have been snatched. And I am sure I will be in the fire again, but I know that I will be snatched again if I can just hold onto that attitude that Alma had- that complete repentence. And because of the infinite mercy of God, I can be snatched forever.

    Have you been snatched?

  • From a letter dated 1/9/2007

    Dear Family, Friends, and Xangans,

    Excuse my lack of letter writting and xanga updating (via my dad). I have been busy this holiday season and have not had the chance to keep up with all the things I want to do. Entonces (oh, sorry, I accidently slip into spanish so natually now)- So, I have not gotten the opportunity to write you (Lisa, Heather, CHO, Andrew, Grandma and Grandpa, etc. etc. etc.).

    Por exemplo, ahora estoy aprendiendo epanol; estoy ensenando ingles a mi companero; y estoy corriendo mucho de un investagadora al proximo. Obviously I need to work on my grammar because I'm sure I just made some big mistakes, but you get the gist of it: I am learning (and remembering) spanish, teaching my companion english, and running around trying to contact all these people that I am trying to work with.

    This past weekend I confirmed another convert. Depending on how you count baptisms, I have had <b>6</b>, 9, or 7 converts on my mission. I mention this merely as a statistic to give you perspective, please don't read into it. I prefer to think about lives changed, or touched. That, however, is not measurable (as it should be).

    My companion is awesome. He is from Colombia, and so I get to eat cool Colombian food and what not. Funny story- En Colombia they make tomales con hojas de platano. (I understood tomales, and platano- which means banana). Upon learning this I went days imagining tomales wrapped in banana peels. One day during a conversation about tomales, I told my companion that I thought it was really weird to wrap tomales in banana peel. He couldn't understand why. Finally everything because clear, and we both felt very silly. I have since learned that hojas means leaves. Tomales in Colombia are wrapped in the giant leaves of banana trees. JaJaJaJaJa!

    Yesterday I made real authentic Chicago pizza for everybody. Tons of work, and I made them all reemberse me for supplies, but man it was worth it. It was very authentic, I have become an expert.

    Two Sundays ago we spoke in Sacrament meeting again, and we also taught Sharing time in primary. This past Sunday we taught at a fireside for the turning 8 year olds on baptism. All in all, this ward continues to love the missionaries, and we continue to love this ward. It really is the best area I've ever served in. I should have known, after all, R. Swartwood came from here.

    Well, until next week, Take Care. Again my apologies to all of you that I have neglected. I love you all so much, and miss you. I'm at the point now where I want to finish strong in this area, start a new area and get it going well, and then go home and become a member of the Church and put everything I have learned to practice. It's a strange sensation.

    Love,

    Elder Embree