January 30, 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

   

  • 9:42 am
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