31 July 2017 Letter

Hi family and friends!!

It's been a great week! We didn't get back from Sydney until Wednesday night, so it's gone by quick. My trainee is Sister Parungo!!!!!!!!! She is half Samoan/half Philipina, has lived half her life in American-Samoa, then half in Cerritos California. We are exactly the same age, she just turned 20 on July 20th:) She is so fun to be around! She is doing really good and getting better at talking to people and teaching. She is getting used to the completely different life of missionary work and a new country and was feeling pretty homesick and actual sick yesterday, but she survived her first week well! She loves to cook Filipino food! Halla! She is helping me learn too:)

We had a good week. She is bringing the blessings into our area. We have two new investigators this week. Stuart is a really cool and humble guy. He has two little kids who we met before we met him, because they are friends with Mia Ragg, one of our other little investigators. We are hopeful for him, because he really wants to make a bright future for his kids by bringing them to church. Also, Jamie and his fiance, Avalon, are super cool and quirky. A young couple. They let us in to share and said we can come again:) Well, were outta time. Love and miss you all! Have a great week!

1-Wollongong last week. They have a lot of walls with murals there

2-Sister Yuson in front of this beautiful church that's right in the middle of a shopping mall. It's like an oxymoron.

3- Sister Parungo!!! The Elders in our branch decorated our door to welcome her :)

4- Sister Parungo, getting acquainted with the crazy dogs we encounter everyday :)

5- The New District

25 July 2017 Letter

Dear President,

We have had a great week in Mittagong, with finding several new potential investigators we are excited about. Also, thank you for allowing us to attend the temple! It was my first time doing an endowment session in 8 months and I felt so refreshed and full of joy and hope after! I LOVE the temple and coming on my mission has really helped me appreciate more it's great importance.

I was sad to hear that Sister Sumaribos was leaving me, but we both knew it was time and are ready for the new adventures ahead. I'm so grateful I had the chance to be her companion for three transfers because I learned so much from her!

Thank you for the opportunity to train a new missionary. I am exciting and nervous about this, but, like you said, I know that if I rely on the Savior and seek His spirit, I will be more than alright, and it will be a wonderful learning experience for both of us.

It has been great to spend a day with Sister Yuson and hear about her previous training experiences and learn from that.

I love you both. Thank you for your inspiring and motivating weekly letter. Have a great week!!

Love,

Sister Pace

Well the letter  I sent to President, pretty much sums up my week. On Tuesday, we got to go to the temple with Sister Mackey for the stake Relief Society temple trip, and take some names through for another member, Sister Gane. It was the best!

On Saturday after deep cleaning our flat, we got a call confirming what we were both feeling: Sister Sumaribos would be transferred:( It has been so great to be with her and it will be an adjustment because we really had a good system going for everything.

The past couple days, I have been in Wollongong area with Sister Yuson, (from the same island in Philippines as Sis Sumaribos) while we wait for our trainees to get here! Pray for me! We take the train up to Sydney later today for a training meeting and then the new missionaries come tomorrow. I'm going to be a mom (in missionary terms)! I pray that I can be able to handle this new adventure and be a loving and adequate trainer and companion to whoever she is!

Lately, I have been realizing how much the Book of Mormon was really written for OUR day. I am reading in the early chapters of Alma and it is really about missionary work today. Especially in Australia with the hardness of the people's hearts and the incorrectness of the traditions of their fathers. But it helps me understand the promises, gifts, and guidance that are available to me and all of us as missionaries and members and faithful followers of Jesus Christ. Heavenly Father speaks directly to me every time I read the Book of Mormon! So cool! Read your BOM every day this week with me! He will guide, inspire, uplift, and bless us!

Have a great week!

Love,

Sister Pace

ps- I'll send more pics next week bet the Wollongong library computers are SO SLOW.

Photo above:   Just Jesus.  I had fun getting to walk, bus, and train around in Wollongong yesterday with Sister Yuson!

Below: I made a flag cake for our last district P-day because our district P-day was meant to be on the 4th of July. Happy Pioneer Day! (Just zoom into Elder Kenworthy's face in the background. Too good.)

The cakes I made for Elders Stott and Paie for our last district meeting before they go home.  We later smashed these in their faces:

At the temple with Sister Mackey:

Volunteering at ParkRun on Saturday morning. It's a community 5K that happens every Saturday in a lot of places in Australia:

I don't have too much time, but I'm doing great!

A couple highlights of the week were:

-Doing trade-offs with the sisters serving in Wollongong! They are both Filipinas as well so it was a Filipina party! That day, we did Table finding in the courtyard of the street of shops in Bowral with all 4 of us sisters and the Mittagong elders. We borrowed a huge poster of the Savior from the mission office to grab attention. It was so fun! We weren't having much success with all of us trying to talk to people passing by, so we decided to have 4 of us sing hymns while two talked to passers-by. It was amazing how the atmosphere changed and the spirit was there. People were no longer annoyed by us but actually smiled and appreciated us being there.

-I got to attend MLC (missionary leadership council) on Tuesday. It was so wonderful to learn from President and Sister Bingham and from the AP's. We set mission goals and I better understand what my role is as a leader in the mission And what all the rules actually are. I left with a greater desire and motivation to be exactly obedient and diligent, so I can set the example that is expected of me as a Sister Training Leader. The Bingham's are really great and going to do great things for the mission!

-Yesterday (Sunday) we got to attend Peri Murren's (an 8 year old girl in the branch) baptism. The Murren’s have a huge family, and it was hard to fit everyone into our tiny branch building. We helped them set up and take down and got to talk to a lot of their family. It was so fun because they remind me a lot of my own, who recently had a family reunion as well.

We have been making a little progress with a few of our investigators this week. so  I’ll let you know how it goes. Love you all!!

Love,

Sister Pace

Pictures 1-4:  Table Finding and Hymn Singing at the Bowral shops:

#5:  The one guy who accepted our free selfie invitation, haha.

 #6-7:  Relief Society Activity, my first High Tea!!!:

#8-9:  Peri Murren got baptized on Sunday!  July is baptism month apparently!
 

So happy because there was ice cream and good food at the baptism!

#10:  Me with Brother Seville's granddaughters at Paul's baptism:

#11:  The Snell's and Sister Mackey!:

#12-15:  Most of our zone did a beach walk in Dapto!:

Me and the birds

Sisters Yuson (Philippines) and Chan (Hong Kong)<3

 Us and the Nowra Sisters:

10 July 2017 Letter

First of all, HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANNEMARIE! 23 today (in Australia anyway)! And happy birthday to Matthew on Saturday! And happy belated 4th of July to everyone! What a happy time! I loved the family reunion pictures I got from the family's beach trip for the 4th. It looks like it was heaps of fun! If serving the Lord wasn't so fun, I would almost be jealous! haha I love you all so much!

Elder Kenworthy, one of the Elders in our branch, really wanted to celebrate the 4th so he looked everywhere and finally found sparklers. We all surprised a couple members in our branch, Tony Magick and Luen Burgoyne, and made them celebrate with us even though they are not American. They are so great though, they bought us pizza and apple pie to celebrate haha. so that was a fun little unexpected thing this week! I will send pictures.

Well, The biggest miracle this week was that our investigator Paul was baptized on Thursday morning! He is so happy now! Especially since receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost yesterday. It has been amazing for Sister S. and I to literally see his countenance change. What a miracle. I feel so privileged to have been able to take part in his process of accepting the full gospel of Jesus Christ. His baptism was actually quite funny. Maybe that is irreverent of me to say, but I couldn't help myself!

I was privileged to give a talk on faith and repentance, then Sister Mackey gave one on baptism and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost. When he and Elder Kenworthy went down into the font, you could tell he was pretty nervous. When they got into position, Paul was about to just go down so Elder Kenworthy was like, "No, I need to say the prayer first". Then, after he said the prayer, Paul sticks his right arm straight out in front of him, but it was too late, Elder Kenworthy was already lowering him. So he had to push him down so much deeper than he should have needed to, just to make sure his outstretched arm went all the way under. Paul kind of freaked out and stood up by himself, gasping for air! But the good news is he went all the way under and didn't have to repeat it, and now he is completely cleansed from past sins! It took everything in me not to bust out laughing though, haha! Then he bore his testimony. We were so scared that he would talk for like an hour, but he was good and only spoke for about 5 minutes. We made the mistake, a while ago of telling him our first names, Emmalynn and Havens. Now, even though we have tried to correct him, he always calls us "Sister Emmaline and Sister Heaven". Even though that is not even how you say either of our names, we just let it be. So when he referred to us in his testimony, all the members were looking at each other like "Who is he talking about?" lol. He is so funny. Whenever Sister S and I think about it, we get a good laugh.

Now that both Paul and Patrice have been baptized in the past week or so, we are trying to help our other investigators to progress and accept a baptismal date.

In the past week I have been realizing how important it is that the Holy Ghost is a trio with my companion and I. He is the one that guides us to the pure in heart as we call upon His help and diligently seek for a miracle every day. We have really seen Him lead us to those as we have done this in the past week. My testimony that this really is The Lord's work grows all the time.

Lastly, we met the Bingham's this week (New mission President) and they are great! We love them already and are excited to see what new things will happen in the mission!

I'm out of time, but love you all! Have a good week!

Love,

Sister Pace

Pictures:

1 and 2- Coldest 4th of July of my life!:

3 and 4 - Us and Paul and Sister Mackey at Paul's Baptism:

5 - The members at Paul's baptism.  Whenever I look at this picture now, I cry laughing because The Molloy's look like mobsters, or like Michael Jackson and his body guard. Just look for it hahahaha.

 6 - Paul wanted a picture of all of us to go on the front of his baptismal program so this is it haha:

 7 - We finally have a Branch Mission Leader!  Brother Smith was called on Sunday.  He is the funniest man in the branch and he reminds me of my Grandpa Pace. :)  He talks your ear off though, so MCM's should be interesting.:

 8 - Visiting Branch President and Sister Sullivan.  I just love everyone in this branch!:

9 through 11 - Beautiful Mittagong:

12 - Sister Mansell, who works in the mission office:

13 - New Mission President and Mom:  President and Sister Bingham!  They are so little!  I'm a good couple inches taller than President:

3 July 2017 Letter

G'day all!

Hope it's been a great week for everyone! I am so excited to hear that Ammie and Tanner will be having a girl! So fun! I can’t wait to see what she looks like haha.

This past week basically flew by, it was so busy.

The biggest miracle of the week was that Patrice was baptized and confirmed! It was such a great day for her! Two of the three of her little sisters and their families came, and so did her dad, none of whom are members. She didn't think her dad was going to come, so that was sweet:) Talks were given by Sister Molloy and Sister Mackey, and the four of us missionaries did a musical number of "How Gentle God's Commands", Patrice's Nan's (who passed away recently, but was the biggest motivator for her to learn about the gospel, and for her mom to go back to church) favorite hymn. When Elder Kenworthy baptized her, she slipped a little bit and almost went under again, she just wanted to be extra clean, haha! Then, her mom, Sister Snell, bore a sweet testimony. After, we had refreshments and got to talk to her family a little bit. She said that they all really enjoyed the baptism and it helped them understand why she did it, especially, because they felt so calm and peaceful in the chapel:) She is such a good example to her family!

Then, when she received the gift of the Holy Ghost on Sunday, In the blessing she was given, Brother Molloy blessed her that her mental health challenges are behind her and that she will be able to be guided by the Holy Ghost from now on. It was so cool, because she has struggled with various mental health issues and hearing bad voices in her head for years, and she always says how much she hates them.

I love Patrice so much!  I'm so grateful Heavenly Father called me to this area where  I would get the privilege of meeting her and helping her accept the gospel with Sister Sumaribos. He has blessed us all so greatly!

Paul is still doing great; his baptism will be on Thursday ,the 6th, because we have a conference to meet our new mission president on the 5th. He has so much faith. Because of his mental conditions, he is so intelligent. I feel like we won’t even explain something that well or completely, yet he always understands so well. He already has such a strong relationship with his Savior and Heavenly Father. He says the funniest things too. At Patrice's baptism, we tell him to join a picture. Elder Kenworthy puts his hand on his shoulder as we position ourselves. He says "thank you for that hand on my shoulder,  I feel very supported!". Every Sunday, he sings very loudly, and you can always pick out his voice in our small branch. He's probably going to join our choir! He always gives the LONGEST and most heartfelt prayers too; they are the best though! We are excited for him:)

We also had two trade-offs this week, with the Nowra then the Dapto sisters, where we spend 24 hours with a different companion in our zone. President Back called me to be a sister training leader this transfer, so I do them more often now. I first had one with Sister Zobell who has only been out a couple weeks, from Bountiful Utah. We have a mutual friend who  I went to UVU with! She is great! Then  I went with Sister Chan, form Malaysia, who came into the mission with me. She is so funny. I love doing trade-offs because I always learn so much from the other sisters and it is good to know that we all struggle with the same challenges.

Well, that was a long email, thanks for reading!  I love you and pray for you all, and think of you often! Have a good week.

Love,

Sister Pace

Pictures:

1- The Branch Members who came to Patrice's Baptism:

 2- With the Elders who baptized Patrice:

3- Emmalynn with Patrice at her baptism:

4-  Patrice and Sister Snell's family:

5- Sister Sumaribos, Patrice, and Sister Pace

6- Brother and Sister Seville and their grandchildren:

7- At Sister Mackey's family reunion:

8- A pic with Sister Mackey, the greatest!

9- It's COLD here!:

10- Wombat: