The Missionary Set Sail

Welcome to the Blog set up for Emily McRae! Emily's serving the Lord in the Washington, Tacoma mission. She set sail to the Missionary Training Center February 24th 2010. She will be in the Tacoma area for 18 months. This blog is updated and maintianed by one Molly McRae. The blog should display letters and photos of Emily while she is serving the Lord along with a quick update about transfers and mission companions. Hopefully the blog can keep you tied over until Emily is back to entertain once more.

Sunday, April 3, 2011

This week I had the best miracle of my mission! Just kidding, but ti really is so amazing! I was transferred back to Sequim! I was told that I was coming back to it on saturday and my heart was so full of JOY! I was devastated when the mission president took me away from my trainer so quickly. I kinda got over it, but I never stopped loving Sequim. I am just so grateful! I got here and things are just as I left them, but the missionaries aren't utilizing the wards as they should cause they are the best in the mission up here. I love it! So, I fully intend to get Sequim back to its full potential :)
Well, they put me back with Sister Nybo (from Salem, UT) whom I served with in Gig Harbor and we had a terrible time getting along back then, but I think that we've both grown so much and I think this time around will definitely be better and we'll be more effective missionaries. I also have another companion from the Phillipines and her name is Sister Directo. She is actually a Temple Square missionary here on her proselyting portion of her mission. I can already tell that I really love her spirit :)
This past week we met with a PMF and he felt that he had to tell us what his spirit told him about our spirits. Sounds weird I know, but just hear me out! He said that I had a very strong spirit and that people are drawn to me because my strength provides strength for them. He said that I was very determined, and that it is because of these qualities that I am meant to have amazing success in my mission and in my life. WOOWWWW.
I was blown away. He said that he had this gift of discerning spirits but that he hardly ever used it anymore because it weirded people out. I thought it was incredible though. :)
This past week, we had a mission tour which is when one of the general authorities come to the mission and talks to us about the work, how we can improve, etc. Well, I was one of the five that was chosen out of the whole mission to talk to the authority and I asked him questions about how I could endure to the end well. He told me that it's the little things that make the biggest difference; If I ever stop praying, studying or going to the temple, than I have stopped enduring well. The temple is a major blessing, one that I didn't realize or take advantage of before the mission. I will never let that happen again.
Man alive, I've achieved something I never thought I would . . . I am fully devoted to the work, through and through. I love The Lord so much and I have determined that there is nothing that will keep me from reaching my eternal potential.

Love you all!

-Sister Emily McRae

Sunday, January 30, 2011

New Insights Every Day

The miracles just keep on rolling in! Last Sunday, January 23, we were able to baptize some of our investigators, Hannah and Macy Dosher. There were so many people there. We had to open the next curtain in the gym (that's where the baptismal font is. . .). We even had another one of our investigators there, Tyge Barker.We've taught him about 3 times since we met him a little over a week ago and we put him on date for the 30th of January (today!!!). It's amazing! We were able to confirm his desire to be baptized last saturday and he said that when he prayed he felt like it was the right thing to do and that he knew he should! It was awesome. So, we got to see him baptized this month! And then this time next year we will be able to see get sealed to him family for time and all eternity in the temple! I am so excited to be able to say that! That's the whole reason he's getting baptized; isn't that crazy?! When he said that he wasn't even a member yet and yet he was already wanting to take part in the blessings of having an active life in the gospel.

So, it's been pretty busy lately and the only thing that helps me get out of bed in the morning is that the mission president said in the last transfer meeting that "Zion is built at the edge of exhaustion." That's been my hope, that as I work really hard to find and teach the best lessons I can, I will begin to see Zion being built. Another thing I love that I read somewhere is that without faith, The Lord can do nothing with or for you. That has been something that I have had to keep in mind as I go to see members and share messages with them is that there is a bigger plan for us, but without faith, we can have no part in it. This ward I am serving in is really great, but as we have been sharing with them our goals as missionaries and the baptisms they have helped us with, they have shown a lack of faith. I feel like that can change though with a few good messages on faith building.

I read in this months ensign the story of the Home Teachers that made a difference and there were several about part-member families and less-actives that had been reactivated and/or baptized because of the efforts of good, faithful Home Teachers and I had a revelation that that is its very purpose and that having faith is essential, especially in those seemingly hopeless cases. That, over time, is how The Lord softens their hearts. I am so grateful for and have developed a great testimony that th epriesthood is the biggest difference in The Lord's church and those other churches built around it.
I also just recently FINALLY came to the realization of what my true purpose is. I was given a promise in my patriarchal blessing that I would be able to bear testimony of the truths of the gospel and it will touch the hearts of others. I have to know these things are true though. And so, I've begun my quest for more knowledge. I hope to be able to understand the gospel better in my quest for knowledge of these truths. Anyway, those are my big insights into the gospel for now, wish me luck for the weeks to come! :)

Love you all! Talk to you later!

-Sister Emily McRae