2nd Week in Australia

Hello all!

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! It's not a holiday in Australia but some people celebrate it anyway because its such a big thing in America. The Clarkes (the senior missionaries in Canberra) got permission to put on a thanksgiving dinner for us on Friday (Thursday in America), right after our zone training meeting (ZTM). They are the best! Elder Clarke reminds me of my dad, it’s the best. The pies weren't as good as my mom's but it was still amazing. I'm excited we’re getting into the Christmas season! Has everyone seen the Christmas service initiative on lds.org??? go watch it! I'm so pumped. They give you a different ideas for service every day until Christmas so we can LIGHT THE WORLD like Christ did. We're sharing it with everyone we see. I also really liked a training we got from Sister Rollins and Sister Mariner, the sister training leaders at ZTM. They talked about how the main question this season is: "are you ready for Christmas?" meaning do you have everything planned out and gifts ready? But the question should be: "Are you ready for the coming of the Savior of the world?" Christmas is about Him so we should be preparing for Him. I invite you all to think of what you can do better to be ready for His coming. Some of the things I thought of to do are:

-give thanks more often

-serve others before myself

-forgive always

-smile more

I know that this season will be even happier and more meaningful if we are preparing for Him to come again.

We had lots of opportunities to give service this week. We cleaned this one sister's house that was really messy. She struggles with mental illnesses and her kids are addicted to video games. I feel really bad for them every time we visit. It made me really grateful for all that I have. Serving always makes me feel good, and hopefully them as well.

I started driving this week! I'm still getting used to driving on the wrong side of the road. I hit the windshield wipers instead of the turn signal at least once a day, but I'm getting better at it. 

The work here is going pretty good. We have a lot of less actives in our wards so we spend a lot of time visiting and strengthening them. We had a sports night the other night with the missionaries in our district, our investigators, and some members. It was really fun. Our investigator Wyman came. He is so good. He is the one who said that he wanted to learn about what we were teaching when we were talking to someone else on the street. He has a baptismal date for January 7th! We had to pass him over to the Chinese elders though because he doesn't know English well enough to fully understand when we teach.

I am getting to know the ward members of both wards better now so things are good. I spoke on how the Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ and why that's important in the Ginninderra ward on Sunday. I’m glad I was given that prompt because  I learned a lot about how everything in the Book of Mormon was written by a prophet for the purpose of bringing us closer to Christ and guiding us on our journey back to him. The book of Mormon is so important. By reading it everyday, we can get closer to God than by any other way or book. God wants us to read it so that we can know how to get back to Him someday.

I'm thankful I get to be out on a mission. It is hard being so far away from home sometimes, but it is such a blessing to be able to meet the people I am meeting and help improve the quality of people's live by helping them come unto Christ.

Love,

Sister Pace

Pictures:

1: Sister Rollins, who leaves next week :(

2. the huge spider that lives right outside our flat

From: "Australia Sydney South Mission" <2014505@ldschurch.org>
To: "byroninla@hotmail.com" <byroninla@hotmail.com>
Subject: RE:  Sister Emmalynn Pace

Dear Bishop Byron C Williams,

Would you please let  Brother and Sister Pace know that their daughter, Sister Pace, has arrived safely. 

We are very excited to have her here.  She had a busy orientation day and we hope she felt the love we all have for her.

Attached is a picture of Sister Pace with President and Sister Back.

Warm Regards,

Sister Connie Mansell

Australia Sydney South Mission

Hello!

Thees past few weeks at the MTC have flown by! I leave for Australia Monday afternoon and I cant believe how fast my time here has gone after the first few days. This week has been another great one, despite getting sick yesterday. I'm taking lots of Dayquil though and Sister Ockey has been hooking me up with lots of essential oils (she's like my mom here). So hopefully I'll be feeling better soon. 

On Sunday, Sis Ockey and I were called as the new sister training leaders in our zone and Elders Talgo and Gunnell in my district were called as the zone leaders. We haven't done much for it so far besides host the orientation and tour for the new missionary district in our zone. It has been fun to get to know them and help them feel welcomed.

Besides that, this week has been more class and TRC's (practice teaching investigators). The teaching is getting easier. I am learning that it's really just about studying the doctrine and letting the spirit guide, because He is the real teacher. I have found that being completely obedient helps me to feel the spirit better and feel more confident in teaching too. I am so thankful for Sister Ockey! She always knows what to say when I blank while teaching. She always makes the conversation run smoothly.

We had a great devotional on Tuesday night by Joy D. Jones, the Primary General President. She spoke about obedience. I liked the example she gave of Naman from the bible. He had leprosy and he heard the prophet could heal him so he went to him. The prophet just sent his servant to tell Naman to wash in the river Jordan 7 times. He was offended that the prophet didn't come out to meet him and that he told him to wash in the Jordan river, which was the dirtiest one. He decided to anyway and he was healed. She related this to how we need to be completely obedient. Sometimes we don't understand why we have certain commandments, but we need to follow them anyway so God can trust us and bless us with freedom and happiness and confidence. I like the quote from Ezra Taft Benson that she shared: " When obedience stops being a burden but a quest, in that moment, God endows us with power from on high", something like that. Sis. Ockey said the closing prayer for the devotional so I got to sit in the front and then meet her afterwards. She talked to us for a while and she seemed genuinely interested and excited about our missions. I loved that. I could tell that she loves missionaries and being around us.

Yesterday, when the new missionaries came, Sister Weaver and  I knocked on Sister Swartzlander's door which is only a few down from mine! We were all roommates at UVU and friends growing up, and now we are all here at the same time! I love seeing them. 

I am feeling a little apprehensive about going into the mission field because I know it will be very different from here, but I know that everything will be alright as I rely on the Lord. The 13 Hour plane ride might be a little struggley though. Tomorrow we have in-field orientation like the whole day so I'm excited!

I will send pictures from the week in another email.

Lots of love,

Sister Pace

First P-Day, Thursday, Nov 3rd

Hello family and friends! How is everything? My first week here at the MTC has felt like a month but I love it here. Every day is so productive and I learn so much here. My district is Sister Ockey and I, Sister Meyer and Sister Howard (Australia), Elders Reese and Kelley, Elders Gunnell and Talgo (Charlotte, North Carolina), and Elders Killian and Merill (Fort Collins, Colorado). Elder Killian says he's related to the Henderson Killians too, so thats fun. I love my district! I've already learned so much from each of them, and they are the funnest people. i'm actually really sad we're not all going to the same mission.

The first couple days here, they kept us super busy but things have calmed down a little now. I was really sad about leaving my family the weekend before I came, but since being here, I have felt really peaceful and happy. I have made so many great friends here! Especially my companion. I really lucked out with Sister Ockey. We room with four sisters not in our district, who are all so fun. Our teachers are really great and we practice teaching a lot. We teach our teachers as if they are investigators and we also teach TRC's which are are people who come to the MTC to be taught. Most of them are actually members but they don't tell us who. It is becoming easier to teach as I apply the teaching skills we're learning and try to go by the spirit, which is the most important part. Our branch presidency is the best. President and Sister Marks, The Birds, and The Thaynes. Brother Thayne is funny because he wears hip shoes like converse and vans all the time until his wife says he can't wear them in the MTC, and he's the oldest one of them all. They teach us and we have sacrament meeting with them, but mostly they just love us.

On Saturday, Sister Ockey and I were walking around the missionary field outside, and my brother Matt honked and waved at us. Haha, somehow I knew that would happen. Then some boys driving past yelled "Dab, Sisters!", Then I just felt like I knew everyone and I was breaking the rules somehow so we just went back inside haha. I love exercise time because all we do is sit and eat. Sister Ockey and I like to do the same things so that's another great thing about her.

Everyone says just "just make it to Sunday" here but for me Sunday was one of the longest days. It was amazing but spiritually exhausting. We sang in choir, had normal Sunday meetings, and had a few devotionals.

On Tuesday night, we had a devotional. Nobody knew who was coming but we knew it was going to be someone big because they were preparing to broadcast it to all 14 MTCs all over the world. When we were singing the prelude hymns and President Nelson and his wife walk in, I was so happy! They are so precious and  just love them. I was able to sing 'Praise to the Man' for them in a choir of about 1500 missionaries. It was so cool. I felt the spirit so strong every time we sang it, even just in practice. Our choir director was Brother Egget, who is amazing and he told us the whole story behind why the author wrote 'Praise to the Man'. I love how we sing hymns so much here because that is when I feel the love of God the strongest. The Nelsons talked about how important our missions are. She said that we should be praying to be led to those whose ancestors are waiting to receive the gospel because they are so eager for their temple work to be done. He talked about how important it is for us as missionaries to be converted and have the Doctrine of Christ engraved in our hearts. I liked how he said "multi-generation families of faith will come from your service to others". That really made me want to utilize my study time more wisely and ask God what I should be praying for so I can be prepared when I get that opportunity. I know that President Nelson is an apostle called of God. I could feel that so strongly, being in the same room as him.

After the devotional, we had a district review of it where we shared our favorite parts and our testimonies. That was a tender meeting. I hope I can keep in touch with my district after the MTC because they are all so great.

Yesterday when new missionaries came in again, I found out that GENEVIEVE WEAVER IS IN MY ZONE! Man I was so happy when I saw her. What are the odds? She is one of my best friends from high school and UVU roommates. I'm excited to get to see her pretty often.

Overall all, I am really happy here. I'm grateful I have this time to prepare more for my mission.

I love you all,

Sister Pace

 

Second Day in the MTC, Thursday, October 27, 2016

Hi family, 

I am safe and sound in the MTC! I was really stressed and nervous yesterday morning before coming here but since I've been here I've felt peaceful and excited. My companions name is Sister Ockey and I loved her from the first minute I met her! I got really lucky because she's great and I think we have different strengths in teaching so I will learn a lot from her. She is from Mapleton and she's a year older than me.

So far the MTC has been a lot of orientation and training. There is another companionship of sisters in my district who are also going to Sydney South but there are three companionships of elders who are going to North Carolina. Everyone in my district is super cool and nice and so are our teachers.I am excited to get more into studying the scriptures because so far it has mostly just been a lot of training. Sister Ockey and I taught a lesson this morning to a mock investigator which went alright. For me, it is hard to get into teaching when I know its not completely real. I really tried to listen to what the Spirit wanted to teach which was a different experience. It will be interesting to learn how to teach completely by the Spirit and just listen to Him and the investigator.

Overall, I am happy and healthy and excited about being a missionary!

Love,
Sister Pace

Farewell Talk, pre-mission photos and letters, first MTC companion

Mission Farewell Talk, October 23, 2016.  Calico Ridge Ward, Henderson Nevada Lake Mead Stake:

Mosiah   18: 8-10

                In this chapter, Alma, who was a former priest of the wicked king Noah, is teaching people who have followed him away from King Noah at the Waters of Mormon. He teaches them what the covenant of baptism is. In verses 8- 10 it says:

                In this verse Alma explains that baptism is how we can show Jesus Christ that we will follow the example He has set for us. By making the covenant of baptism, we promise to serve Him and keep His commandments. Keeping the commandments and serving Him, by serving those around you, every day can be challenging. However, something that makes the covenant of baptism so great is that, as promised in verse 10, Christ will “pour out His spirit more abundantly upon you”. When we constantly have the companionship of The Holy Ghost to call upon, we can always have the strength and the peace we need to follow Him.

                I didn’t always understand why baptism was so important. I knew that it meant that you became a member of the church and that it is a saving ordinance, but this scripture helped me to understand that baptism gives us more than just a title. It is Heavenly Father’s promise to us that as we strive to do what is right and just be good people, that He will guide and bless us in all of our endeavors. It is a step we take that gets us closer to eventually be worthy to enter the presence of our Father in Heaven again.

                We learn more about the blessings of baptism in 3 NE 27:20.

                My whole purpose as a missionary will be to “Invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel by faith in Jesus Christ and His atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end”. This is what missionaries do all day and every day, but members should also seek to be sharing the gospel as often as they can with friends and acquaintances. Elder Quentin L. Cook of the quorum of the 12 apostles said, “missionary work is not just one of the 88 keys on a piano that is occasionally played; it is a major chord in a compelling melody that needs to be played continuously throughout our lives if we are to remain in harmony with our Christianity and the gospel of Jesus Christ”.

                Missionary work not only blesses the lives of those we share the gospel with, but it blesses our lives greatly as we do it. PMG reminds us that, “Members who share the gospel experience joy and have the spirit of the Lord more abundantly. As we share the gospel, we appreciate how precious and meaningful it is to us, and we feel a greater love for God and others”. I have experienced this I think every time I have shared the gospel with someone. I’ll always remember one experience a year or so ago, when I went out to knock on doors with the sister missionaries in my ward to share our message with people.

                One door we knocked on later in the night, a woman answered who was busy doing dishes and babysitting children inside. I don’t remember what exactly we talked with her about but she was going through multiple difficult trials in her life and she felt like there was nowhere to turn for help or relief. Our message of a loving God and eternal families caught her attention and she agreed to meet with the missionaries again to be taught more. At the end, we asked if we could say a prayer with her before we left. The sisters asked me to say it. I hadn’t contributed much to the conversation up to that point unless I was specifically called upon, so I was a little nervous but I just tried my best to listen to what the spirit guided me to say in that prayer. After, the woman thanked me and said that that was exactly what she had needed to hear. I was so thankful that I was able to be the means through which that woman could experience a moment of peace and hope and I was so grateful that I have the knowledge of this gospel so that I can call upon that peace and hope all the time.

                In the most recent general conference of the church, Elder Dallin H. Oaks said: “success in sharing the gospel is inviting people with love and genuine intent to HELP THEM, no matter what their response”. This will be a blessing to friends and acquaintances you share the gospel with because, at the very least, they will be touched that you care enough about them to share what you believe can increase their happiness.

                “What we call ‘Member Missionary Work’ is not a program but an attitude of love and outreach to HELP those around us.”

                This is basically what Alma is saying in verses 8 and 9. That the gospel of Jesus Christ is all about being willing to “bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light…. Mourn with those that mourn; yeah and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things and in all places that ye may be in”.

                Alma 30:34

                In this verse, Alma’s son, Alma the younger points out that none of us receive any worldly reward for our missionary service so why do we do it? Because we rejoice in bringing the joy we have to our brothers and sisters who do not yet have that hope.

                Sometimes, members and missionaries get discouraged with trying to share the gospel because they don’t see any good come of it right away. Even though we might not see the fruits of our labor in the moment, it always blesses someone. I have a testimony that no love given is ever wasted.

                For example, the prophet Abinadi cried repentance to King Noah and his wicked priests, and taught them the truths of the gospel. As a result, the king was angry with Abinadi and sentenced him to death by fire. Abinadi might have wondered if his efforts and sacrifice even did any good. But he would later find out, after he had passed to the next life that his message had touched Alma, who became the means of baptizing 204 souls at the waters of Mormon, after he taught them what Abinadi had taught him.

                We know that Abinadi was blessed for this because in D&C 18: 15-16

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