The Forgotten Father:"For behold, the time ... is not far distant, that with power, the Lord Omnipotent who reigneth, who was, and is from all eternity to all eternity, shall come down from heaven among the children of men, and shall dwell in a tabernacle of clay ... And he shall be called Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Father of heaven and earth, the Creator of all things from the beginning..." (Mosiah 3:5-9).

Yesterday was my 22 month mark. That's pretty intense. I can't wait to see all of you when I get home. Please mark Sunday August 26 on your calendars- that is when I will give my homecoming talk.

When I come home, you will discover that my life for the past 2 years has been immersed in something that is very important to me- my faith in Jesus Christ and in His restored gospel. You should know that that will be all I will talk about. It is all I talk about now. It is all I think about now. It is what I am. I hope that you will be interested in me for who I am. I don't ask you to conform to it or to accept it as your own, but please take interest if only because it is important to me.

We are preparing for Jeremiah's baptism this Sunday. His mother and 2 siblings have been baptized within the past few months, and it has made them really happy. They struggle, however, because the husband has not been as excited about it as they are. What can they do when they have found something that they love and want?

Elsewhere in this area, there are two people who want badly to be baptized. Their mothers forbid it. One will be disowned. The other is a minor, and simply can't get consent. Tough situation.

Elder Smith and I continue to be really busy. We taught 26 lessons this past week. We didn't find new people, however. That is our goal for next week.

Frankly I was a little discouraged this past weekend about some of the frustrating things missionaries go through.

Someone threw an open can of beer at us yesterday. Made me laugh.

It was also really really really hot on my bike all week. Made me sweat.

Well, I don't know what else to say. So many things happened this past week, but I don't know what to write. My roomate Elder Coxson is really sick. I went on exchanges with Elder Davis who is really cool (we swapped partners to spend a day in eachother's areas). I got to teach Sabina, which was very very fulfilling. I am working with some cool people who are learning about the church. We played sand volleyball today and the hot sand ripped up my feet.

Well, take care,

Elder Embree

"And in that day that they shall exercise faith in me, saith the Lord ... that they may become sanctified in me, then will I manifest unto them the things which the brother of Jared saw, even to the unfolding unto them all my revelations, saith Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Father of the heavens and of the earth, and all things that in them are" (Ether 4:7) "

Teach them that redemption cometh through Christ the Lord, who is the very Eternal Father" (Mosiah 16:15).

Dear family, friends, and xangans,

I am still in Chino, actually a surprise. Last week was transfers. Elder Fernandez went to Glendale, and I am now companions with Elder Smith. We cover two wards now, the Chino Heritage (where I was) and the Walnut Park (where he was) wards. He's a bran new missionary from Washington State. We have a lot in common- he went to BYU and lived in 3rd floor of R Hall, 3 doors down from where I lived. I asked him about his door, and he mentioned that the varnish was ruined on it. I laughed, and explained how that had happened. Some friends of mine *cough* were involved in a paintball fight and their door got hit up really bad. They didn't clean it fast enough, and it stripped the varnish. It was really funny to relate the incident he had wondered about- it's a small world.

Covering two wards is a daunting task. Our two wards had the highest numbers of the zone last transfer (I was leading in number of lessons taught, they were leading in baptisms). Between our two wards last transfer we had 4 out of the 5 baptisms in the zone. I am struggling not to loose any of that momentum. Each ward was able to acheive 15 or 20 lessons, but we discovered last week we couldn't teach 30 lessons, so are not sure how it will work. We are trying to prioritize. I am learning a lot through this new challenge. It is fun. Let me put it this way, we never had a down moment last week. We never said, "what should we do now?".

I have felt a lot closer to the Holy Spirit as we have depended on the Lord. My new companion is very spiritual. There is so much to do, also, which is a great fulfilling feeling.

Friday, for example, we stopped by a contact even though we only had 10 mins to spare before the next lesson. It turns out that she had had a hard day and had been praying for something-anything- when she looked up and saw us walking up to her porch. We taught a very powerful lesson on the Restoration and invited her to the ward picnic the next day. She came to the picnic with a friend and 3 grandchildren. There she talked with us and Sister Grow (whose sister is a friend of my family's from Chicago, Sister Leiberman) and we had a very spiritual conversation. She told us that she had really felt the Spirit when we had met the day before and that she missed the feeling when we left. It was touching.

I love being a missionary and am sad that all this work is making time go so fast. I will blink and it will be August, time to depart for home.

Take care, I love you all,

Elder Embree