November 24, 2014: He Is The Gift

Howdy familia! 

So you're probably wondering why I'm emailing on a Friday afternoon when I usually write on Mondays..Don't worry, I'm not going apost on yall..We went to the temple this morning and in order to go, you have to take your pday on that day. So, I won't be emailing this coming Monday. 

I'm not really sure what to write because we still have the rest of the week! But I'll try to think of some stuff..For pday #1 of the week (Monday), we (the district) went to the houston aquarium and my word, it was one of the greatest pdays of my mission. It was still cold out so no one was there for the rides except for us crazy missionaries. We were such kids and it was so fun to just laugh. Funny moment of the day? We pilled into a photo booth (don't worry, some of the elders only poked their heads in because it was so small haha) and Elder Murdock ripped his pants! haha awk..

Miracle time! Our district is so close knit and we can ask each other for anything. Well..my dear old dad is in Wisconsin and I've felt like he needs an extra boost of help..We came up with an idea! Every single day until he returns home, someone from our district will be fasting for him. If you'd like to fast or pray for him as well, go for it! On Thursday morning, he (dad) texted to say that he had shared the Restoration with his dad..needless to say, I was overjoyed. It made me think of this scripture found in 1 Nephi 8:12, "And as I partook of the fruit thereof it filled my soul with exceedingly great joy; wherefore, I began to be desirous that my family should partake of it also; for I knew that it was desirable above all other fruit." When we feel that exceedingly great joy that comes from gaining a testimony of the gospel and have "partaken of the fruit" we will have the same desire that Lehi had: Share it with others! Minutes later, the Liberty elders (Murdock y Langinbelik) texted to say that they had began fasting that morning. Oh the miracles that come from fasting, they're instantaneous! 

We had zone conference on Wednesday and all I can say is this: President Mortensen is so inspired. His main focus these past few months has been helping us become better teachers. He taught us the plan of salvation and it made me wonder if I ever fully understood the plan before Wednesday! At the end of Zone Conference, the departing missionaries were asked to share their testimonies. My word, I couldn't believe it was my turn to do it! I can so clearly remember my first zone conference and watching the missionaries go up..I thought to myself, "Psh that'll never be me." But the time has finally come for me to go home..This is like the weirdest experience of my life..Saying goodbye to something that I love so much. I cannot believe that I only have one week left of being a missionary. Freak out time. 

Ok..back to zone conference...touching moment: President Mortensen concluded with some remarks and he got choked up by saying, "I don't know if you can feel it, but in this past few days I've felt such a heavy burden placed upon my back. The eternal salvation of so many people rests upon our decisions." Woah. He then showed us the "He is the Gift" initiative that the church will be rolling out the day after thanksgiving..Oh my goodness...Why am I going home?!? This is my favorite time of year to do missionary work!! Basically..the Church is going to have a massive media and advertising push for "He is the Gift" There is a short mormon message that will be coming out (it's like the Because of Him video that came out for Easter) about the true meaning of Christmas. The church has purchased billboard video space in TIME SQUARE for the entire month of december until january 1st where the video will be played. And then on december 7th, it'll be on the header of youtube. President said that an estimated 250 million people will see it on youtube that day..HOLY SMOKES. and then in time square when MILLIONS will be there for the new year?! but it gets better..in every december ensign, there will be 10 He is the Gift pass along cards to distribute..I'm really sad that I won't be a set apart missionary for this wonderful push but I'll be a member missionary and I'm excited for that! There are so many people back home that I'm so excited to share this gift with. 

He is CHRISTmas. 

Share the gift. 

See you soon!

Love,

Hermana Emma Seymour

I love to see the temple.

sister 'aisea! i'm so grateful that I got to see her at zone conference this week

​the normal sisters​. the pretty boy. the cali boy. and the hawaiian. 

AFTER

BEFORE

we took a train ride through a shark tank

petting zoo on steroids..STING RAYS. ​

i'm obsessed with the houston skyline

ferris wheel selfie!

November 17, 2014: It's Cold In Houston!!!

Howdy familia y amigos!

 Can I just say, this week was so "cold"!! Alright, I'll admit..I'm like a baby when it comes to the cold. I can handle 110 degrees with 100% humidity but once it hits 50, I'm toast. This past Monday it was a lovely 80 degrees and now...it's 40. So with the temperature drop came the sickness. Hermana Maxwell got sick again and then I got it..So unfortunately, we couldn't work at 100% this week :(...But hey, we're going to make up for it this week!

 Among the highlights of this past week, we had our ward Thanksgiving party. Yes, hispanics celebrate thanksgiving just the way we do! The party was soo much fun. When there's food, there has to be music and so after everyone ate, they just got up and started dancing. We missionaries stood awkwardly on the side being like..well...I cannot move like a mexican! But then everyone dragged the missionaries in and started playing fun music that we knew. My word, our elders are hilarious. If only I could send videos through email!

Last night, we taught my dad for the last time..He's going to Wisconsin this week for his hunting trip and won't be back until December 1st (I think). We only read one chapter with him and then talked about making plans for being baptized and just where he's at right now. When we asked what his "timeline" was for being baptized, like when he could see himself getting baptized he said, "I don't know about getting baptized before the year ends..and I want you to be there..and I'd want to do it in the branch and not in Virginia (his work will be there for several months this coming year)...so it could be like next year." WOAH. no. haha...Then I asked, "Well, why do you think you can't get baptized before the year ends?" He said, "I feel like it all depends with how it goes in Wisconsin and how I do there.." We reassured him that he does not have to be perfect in order to be baptized and he quietly agreed. I asked, "So you said last week that the Book of Mormon is true?" "Yes...I might have mentioned that.." this guy kills me..."Do you know what other knowledge comes from knowing that the Book of Mormon is true?" We turned to the last paragraph of the Intro to the BOM where it says, "Those who gain this divine witness from the Holy Spirit will also come to know by the same power that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world, that Joseph Smith is His revelator and prophet in these last days, and that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the Lord’s kingdom once again established on the earth, preparatory to the Second Coming of the Messiah."

He understood what it meant...That if the BoM is true, then this church is indeed the same church that Christ had established. It was so cool when he explained it because he basically taught us the Restoration lesson. I asked, "Do you believe that this is Christ's church?" He said, "I'm slowly beginning to see it..How it has the same structure, doctrine, everything.." WAHOOOO. 

I don't know why, but I just know that he is going to be baptized when I go home. This is something that I have always hoped for..But to see it actually come to pass..Words can't describe the feeling.

I feel like I say this about every area but I think that this is my favorite ward! There is such a special spirit here..The humblest of saints are truly the happiest. These people don't even have heat in their homes and struggle to put food on the table. But they still walk around with the biggest smiles. Why? Because they have what really matters. A testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

It has been so wonderful to watch the change that has taken place in the ward. When I first came into the area, there wasn't much love towards the missionaries..We never got fed..Which is a rare thing in spanish wards and I didn't know who anyone was. Now, the members and the missionaries are united and doing the work together. The way it should be done. And, we get fed every night...Sometimes twice or three times a day. There is such a difference in the work and ward when the members and missionaries are united..

I know that this is Christ's church.

The thought of going home makes my heart hurt so badly! I love these people soo much! A missionary once said, "The harder you work, the harder it is to leave your mission." This is so true! So for these last two weeks I'm just going to put my shoulder to the wheel and push along! wahooooo! 

I love yall! Thank you so much for your prayers and support!

Hermana Emma Seymour

adventures in fifth ward.​

jammed my finger playing football with President Mortenen an Elders

hermana rupp is a little tall...so hermana galeano got on a chair to even things out.

some of our lovely ward members..

sassy

post district lunch

 

smile. it's flauta time.

LOVE

gaby left for mexico this past week...sooo sad :( but she's coming to utah in January

companions

November 10, 2014: The Greatest Miracle of My Mission

Howdy! 

So are you all ready to read this email?? 

Okay, so the miracle is about my dad... :) We skyped him last night and read Mormon 9 with him and in case yall didn't know, it's a sweet chapter. We read through it and discussed the chapter and at the end we asked, "How do you feel about everything?"

(the following is the dialogue of how it went)

He said, "I feel good right now.." 

-So do you feel like Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon by the power of God?

-Yes, I think it's very possible.

-Do you think that the Book of Mormon is true?

-I think that there are certainly truths to it and that the principles are true..But I can't wrap my mind around these Nephites and Lamanites...why is so much of the book about their battles??

-The BOM is a record of a people..These wars actually happened so to not write them would be a disservice to the history of the people. It would not be an accurate history.

(This seemed to click in his head and he understood it)

We continued to say, "Have you ever felt the Spirit before?"

-Yes

-What did it feel like?

-Calm and peaceful

-How are you feeling right now? 

-I feel calm and I feel a peace.

-You're feeling the Spirit right now?..(He shook his head in agreement) What exactly does the Spirit do?

-It comforts, guides us through hard times...But I don't have the Holy Ghost right now.

-You can still feel it! Let's turn to Moroni 10:5 to learn more about what the Holy Ghost does..

(He reads it with a grin)

I ask, "What does the Holy Ghost do?"

-Tells us what is true.

-So what is the Holy Ghost doing right now?

-Telling me that this is true.

UM...CAN YOU REPEAT THAT?

"This is true."

 I was silent and I felt like someone needed to bring out the paddles and restart my heart. All I could do was smile and he humbly smiled as well..

-(us) As missionaries, our purpose is to help people prepare for baptism...we're not going to be pushy..we're just going to do what we do with everyone else..

We looked at the phone's calender and said, "How does December 20thsound?" 

-I don't know. I don't know if I can say yes to that yet..Let's take baby steps here! I wasn't even going to tell you this but today I went to church by myself. Mom wasn't feeling well so I went.

This was another curveball that I was not expecting at all!

We said, "Okay..so what you need to do is pick a date and then ask the Lord if it's right. The Lord expects us to get everything together, be prepared, and then ask if it is right.."

Like the Brother of Jared and how the Lord asked him, "What do you want me to do?" 

He understood this principle and agreed to pick a date and then pray if it was right.

I left the lesson on cloud nine to say the least. I've waited my ENTIRE life for him to say those words...that the BOM is true...and it has finally happened.

We've been seeing so many miracles in the ward..Our district, the six missionaries in the ward, have been working so hard on bringing back the lost sheep..for example, our church attendance is usually only 100 but this past sunday it was 130! 

We've reactivated a woman, Betty Rios, and she spoke with the obispo about going through the temple. These people just need love! There's a reason why President Monson speaks so much about love...It's pretty important!

We were also able to teach a less active woman the Plan of Salvation..The lesson was so inspired because her mother is super sick and doesn't have much time left. Before her mom got sick, she was very active in the church so teaching her something that she has know for years was a new experience. But she had so many questions and concerns about what happens after this life. She told us that even though she knows the Plan is true, she's still afraid of what happens next..We reassured her that we just have to have faith in the Savior. Oh how I love this calling!

I've had the opportunity to really study the recent general conference talks and wow..I love them! There was a line from President Packer's talk that touched me..It said something along the lines of, "His (the Savior's) servants are no strangers to Him." How true it is. As we lose ourselves in the Lord's work something remarkable happens..We become like Him..Therefore, we know Him. I truly feel like I know the Savior. I know that He lives and I'm so grateful I get to represent Him.

Witnessing miracles on the mission has become one of my favorite things to do..All we have to do is open our eyes and hearts to the Spirit and let the Lord do the work. 

Keep calm and hang on to the Rod, our Savior!

Love,

Hermana Emma Seymour

November 3, 2014: The Miracle of Working with the Members

Hola Familia!

            So, I've only got limited time to email so I'll get down to the good stuff..This week, Hermana Maxwell and I planned to go nuts on the members. And by that I mean, practically visiting the entire ward. There were so many miracles and blessings that we saw from it and one that I'd like to share happened on Wednesday night..

            So we had time to visit just one more family/member for the night. I pulled out a list of members that the ward council wanted us to see and asked Hermana Maxwell, "Which one do you feel like we should see?" She looked at the list and said, "Perett." (Quick background info...we only get a limited amount of miles for the month and we were super low..) I thought to myself, "Oh my gosh, that's so far away!" But I knew that this prompting was from the Lord. We first called to make sure that they were home and they said that we could stop by..wahoo! We got there and we were talking with Hermana Perett..She's in her late 30s and is dating a nonmember..We asked about her efforts to do missionary work and she said that her boyfriend wants to get married in the temple and be baptized..They read the Book of Mormon over the phone etc..Hermana Maxwell nearly died in happiness..She said that we can teach him! Wahooo! The Lord always has a blessing for every sacrifice we make, no matter how great or small it is..If we hadn't seen her, what would have happened?

            We visited many less actives this week as well and we saw the fruits of our labors yesterday at church..The chapel was FILLED! We have a really small amount of active ward members so the chapel is never filled..But yesterday it was! I realized that it was going to be my last opportunity to bear my testimony in a Spanish ward and the thought nearly made me cry..I got up and thanked everyone and bore a simple testimony that THIS CHURCH IS TRUE.

            Unfortunately, we were on lockdown from Friday through Sunday..We spent Friday night in an urgent care clinic..Hermana Maxwell had a super bad case of strep throat but she's all better and ready to go now! We thought we were going to die from cabin fever..

            Last miracle to share..We saw the Razo family and finally taught them the Plan of Salvation..ahhh..it was so wonderful! At the end, we asked them about baptism and Hermana Razo said to her family, "I want to be baptized. I want to start fresh." Her daughter asked, "Do you know that this is true?" She responded firmly, "Yes, I know that the things the missionaries teach are true and that the Book of Mormon is true." Wahoo! It was one of the happiest moments on my mission..to watch her bear her testimony..This was the first time she told her family that she wants to be baptized and it was so powerful. Unfortunately, her husband does not want to change at all, even though he knows it's true...ahhh...

            During zone meeting this week, we talked briefly about obedience..A thought came back to me from the time I had read, "The Fourth Missionary" by Elder Lawrence E. Corbridge...Obedience has to come from the desires of our heart. If we are being obedient just to follow the rules but deep down, we don't want to do it, we're not going to change to be like the Savior. We have to have the desire to follow the rules, then we will be truly converted. So basically, if we're going to church, reading our scriptures, and praying daily just to say that we did it, we're not going to benefit from it at all. In fact, you're just wasting your time. if you have a hard time having the desire to do these things, study the atonement and pray for a desire to choose the right. I can promise you that your desire will grow and the natural man/woman will shrink. You will truly become more like the Savior.
I love you all! Have a wonderful week! Stay strong!

Love,

Hermana Emma Seymour

October 27, 2014: My last companion...Hermana Maxwell!

Hola family and friends!

My new companion is here! Her name is Hermana Maxwell and she's from San Diego, CA..Literally my sixth comp from cali! Crazy fact too...As we got in the car to go back to our area she asked, "Do you know an Hermana Clement?" uhh, yes! I laughed and told her that I just served with her. Hermana Clement was transferred to the Houston 6th ward so we're in the same zone (meaning that we'll see each other frequently). 

This week has been a little bit nuts, the few days leading up to getting Hermana Maxwell were stressful! ha..that's the life of a missionary. I said goodbye to my mom (sister schellhous)...she's home! As we passed through the mission office, I looked at the board of incoming missionaries of wondered who my companion would be. I saw Hermana Maxwell's picture and said to Sister Winterton (temporary comp..we live in the same apartment), "She is going to be my companion." Thursday came and we had a training meeting with all of the trainers and trainees..At the end of the meeting, we got our companions and all of the stress seemed to wash away and I was filled with excitement. New missionaries have so much energy and are just ready to conquer the world. One night as we were planning, I asked, how many investigators do you think we can find tomorrow? She looked at me and said, "Three!" My first thought was, oh dear...this is going to be hard! But as a trainer, you can't squish goals or expectations so I just smiled and said, Yeah! Well guess what? We found three new investigators!

Hermana Maxwell was a little bit freaked out by how ghetto our area is and I've begun to realize that it's pretty ghetto! Being a missionary for a long time, I've gotten used to all of the crazy things that happen but she's fresh out of the MTC and into the real world..*Don't worry, we're safe!*

I love my companion so much and we have so much in common. We laugh until we cry on a daily basis...For instance..We were knocking in the evening and it was her SECOND door. I looked to her and said, "Are you ready?" She knocked and moments later, a man's eyes peered out through the blinds..awk..and then..He answered the door..with no clothes on. He hid himself behind the door but it was very obvious that he was naked. I looked to Maxwell and she quietly giggled..I couldn't help myself but I began to laugh as well..And there we were..two sister missionaries laughing at a doorstep. It was so bad but the more I tried to stop, the harder I laughed. Through my giggles I introduced ourselves and couldn't say anything after that so I just gave him a pass along card..I mean, who the heck answers the door without any clothes on?! This wasn't the first time that this has happened to me but it was certainly the funniest door approach I've ever had on my mission. We walked away from the door, holding our stomachs from laughing so hard.

Paola is still continuing to progress towards baptism..Ahh...I love her..We saw her on Monday night so Clement could say goodbye to her and we read a chapter with her in the BOM. We asked, "So where are you at in the Book of Mormon?" (we invited her last week to start from the beginning because she was kinda jumping around the book ha-ha) Well, guess how much she had read? 80 pages! We and Hermano Izaguirre (her boyfriend) couldn't believe it. She was like, what did I do wrong?!? ha-ha...NOTHING! We saw Hermana Razo (Gaby's cousin) and read with her in the Book of Mormon. She wants to be baptized so badly but her husband is against it. :( It's the strangest thing because our lessons with the entire family are always super powerful. Gaby told us afterwards that she had similar experiences when she was on her mission. People can feel the spirit and know that it's true, they just don't want to change and leave behind their old habits. That's certainly the most frustrating part about the mission but hey, I can still say that I'm fulfilling my purpose. And that is to INVITE others to come unto Christ. That's all I can do and if I do my best, then I can say one day that I did everything I possibly could to help these people.

Our ward mission leader gave all of us missionaries a list of inactive in our areas and we set a goal as a district to activate 5 families/people as a companionship..Having 15 people or families back in the ward? That would be incredible! And you know what? We're going to do it!

These past few days have kind of been a roller coaster haha..Trying to teach someone Spanish is so hard and it's even harder being thrown into the language. Hermana Maxwell didn't take Spanish in high school so she's only known it for 6 weeks..pray for her that she'll have the patience to learn it! 

We can't learn things all in one day. It might take weeks, months, years..line upon line, precept upon precept. but learning it is the important part. 

The Atonement is real. It might not be a reach out and touch sort of thing but I can truly feel it's power. The Savior is ALWAYS here to help us and he never leaves us alone. I love you all!!

Hermana Emma Seymour

October 20, 2014: THIS VIEJITA IS HAVING A BABY

Hola friends and family!

 Let's get down to business....Transfer calls were last night and with President Mortensen, you never know what the heck is going to happen haha...Andddd a big curve ball was thrown to us. Hermana Clement is leaving the area after just being here for one transfer and I'M TRAINING. Yes, you read that correctly, I'm training for my very last transfer of the mission. This was wayyy unexpected..We thought that Hermana Clement was going to finish me off and then train..But hey, the Lord's way is always better than our way. I don't think it has hit yet haha..So today, I've started my last six weeks weird..How weird?!? I could be in a trio though where someone comes to me and then we train the new hermana together...that's probably what is going to happen so..stay tuned! 

Also last night, we participated in a fireside...So it's called a "mission president's fireside"..President got the idea from his home stake, the mission president did it there and it was super successful. So the purpose of it is to bring members, less actives, investigators, anyone...together and have a super spiritual experience. We (the missionaries in the stake and surrounding area) were the choir and holy smokes, it was so powerful to have like 70 missionaries singing their hearts out! The fireside flowed so well...it started out with all of the missionaries walking into the chapel singing called to serve (everyone in the chapel was crying) and then we sang the primary hymn, A Child's Prayer..The fireside consisted of musical solos from a few missionaries and members...it was so amazing! then before it ended, we (the choir) sang the efy medley (as sisters in zion/we'll bring the world his truth) as we all joined in for the last chorus singing, "We are as the army of helaman." My heart pounded and I felt so incredibly happy..I'm so grateful to be a part of the Lord's modern day army of helaman and to be able to be a messenger of truth. 

Exciting miracle: We saw Hermana Razos while her family was out of the house at school/work so it was good one on one time..We asked her if she had prayed about the Book of Mormon and she said, "I read and prayed the night you told me to. I prayed right before I went to bed and for the entire night, I kept thinking about the 'little blue book', the Book of Mormon...I asked myself, "Why is this in my head? The next morning I told Gabby and asked her what it meant and she told me that the spirit speaks to everyone in a different way and that this was the Lord's way of telling me that this is true. I know that the message you teach is true and that I need to be baptized." 

Holy cow! So the hard part now is getting her to church. Her husband won't let her go unless he goes and he doesn't go because he works in the morning. It's really frustrating because he can make his own hours but he still chooses to do this. He won't even let her get a ride to church because he's SUPER jealous of other men and doesn't want her talking to anyone. I know, super sad. Pray that his heart gets softened! They had to cancel with us on Thursday so we're seeing them tonight. We've been waiting for forever to teach them the Plan of Salvation.

.

Well, I'm excited to see what the Lord has planned for me for my final transfer. I can't believe I made it this far haha..I've come to know the Savior in ways I never expected. I've spent many countless nights on my knees, pleading for help. And he has answered me every time. The Lord is present in our lives. Even though our trials and struggles might seem small to Him, he cares! He LOVES us. How grateful I am to know that He is always there for me. I know that he lives!

I love you all!

Hermana Emma Seymour