Week 10 - Chicago

Hey y'all :) JOHN GOT BAPTISED!!! Im so happy right now, it doesn't feel real! What a rush!

 So its been a crazy week here in Chicago! At 9 AM on Thursday we got a call from President telling us hes doing any emergency transfer and now we will have 3 sets of missionaries in this ward! He then proceed to ask us where he should put the boarders. We met with the other missionaries and President really let us decide where the lines will be. He didnt say anything the whole meeting except, "lets pray if its right."Sure enough when we prayed, the Spirit knew exactly where it should be and we stayed with our orignal plan. My area is now a third of what it was. But the blessing is we kept all of our solid investagators whos progressing. We didnt lose any of them. That meeting really strengthen my testimony. 

In addition, weve been laboring over this baptism. We invited anyone and everyone to it and sure enough a third of the ward was there and most of our investagators as well! By Wednesday night everything was in place and we were pumped. Although, Friday night was probably one of the longest nights of my life. Two days before his baptism, John accidentally clicked an ad that had heavy anti-LDS stuff on it. It really shook his faith and totally scared us. The stuff in the articles were full of half-lies and would look offical to any non-member. In our lesson with him, at first we fought like lions going back and forth. Until the thought came to me to just listen. We let him talk. And suddenly everything was calmer and peaceful. We then all worked together and discuss the ideas on the website and compared it to the simple truths of the gospel. We all bore testimonies, even John, then we left and prayed for hours. One of our members that came is named Seth. He has been inactive for years but has recently came back because theyre having a baby. The Bishop has asked us to bring him to lessons to try to spark a fire in him. And boy is he burning bright now. He stayed behind and talked it through with John until midnight!! John knew it was true through the Spirit and scriptures Seth showed him. John has always been solid but that really tested his faith and he said that know he doesnt have even a particle of doubt because Satan was really fighting against him. Really cool experience. 

I know this church is true. When John came up from the water, there was so much light and understanding in his eyes. Afterwards he was telling everyone there that this church is true multiple times. I admit I was crying, I was so happy and grateful that God allowed me whos only been in the field for 8 weeks to find and teach a man whos been searching for over two decades. This work is so great and full of purpose. The gospel has the power to heal any broken heart.To all my mission friends out there, every heartache, every rejection, every effort is absolutely, completely worth it. "Great shall be your joy if you bring one soul unto me." I hope you all have a great week! 

Sister Emily Coley 

D&C 18 "the most important work is to preach the word of God" Joseph Smith

Photos: 1. John and Seth before baptism!! 2. Eclipse in Chicago 3. and 4. Walking around Wrigley Stadium where the Cubs play 

Week 9 - Chicago

Hey everyone!

Good luck to those going back to school, Im sure glad Im not! 😋

So I admit this week has been rough but extraordinary. On Monday night, we noticed red bumps lining our arms and legs. Sure enough we have bed bugs! Weve been wrestling with them all week by using medience, spray and cleaning our sheets every other day at the Laundromat. Its been a long battle but I think were winning ...slowly :) Luckily weve made some good contacts at the Laundrymat because theyre not going anywhere for the next hour either :) (muwhaha)

In addition, my tire went flat on Saturday evening and every bike store was closed by then. So weve been walking, hitching rides and using our Pday at this bike store. But weve been blessed so much from it. Members have really helped us out and we got to serve some people with a fuming engine. Through all of this, Ive been humbled to appreciate simple things like a mode of transportation, food, and a bug-free bed.

On the flip side, weve had a really successful teaching week. I went on my first exchange with Sis. DeFriez and had some fun. She allowed me to led and really teach the disscussions which totally helped me see what I still need to learn from Sis Robertson. It was also transfers and we are not going anywhere (despite this being my companions 5th transfer here)!! Were so happy, I cant wait to see what this area can look like in another 6 weeks.

Holy cow, please pray for our investagator John. His baptism is this Sunday and he is absolutely solid and golden! He had his interview last night and it was intense. Haha I felt like a worried parent. I was pacing everywhere and time was frozen in place! I absolutely cant wait until Sunday, pray for him.

With all of this excitement of our 5 Filipano investagators, the relief society threw a Filipano Party in which we feasted on their INCREDIBLE food, whacked a pig pinata, and our members really went out of their way to get to know them. Im so grateful for this party. All of our investagators said they felt like they belonged. I can only wait to see how this will boast them in their conversion.

Have an incredible week!! 

Sister Emily Coley

Helaman 15:6 the antidote to any laziness or tiredness is diligence and work.

Photos: 1. Sis. DeFriez and I after a long day 2. Pig Pinata 3. Lines of food there 4. Us with John (we love him so much) 

Week 8 - Chicago

Hi everyone!

Another busy week gone! I had my first Zone Conference which I know understand why people get so excited over it. Its like watching conference but its based on every aspect of your day, everyday. It was super good and we talked a lot about how faith=obedience=more faith= powerful missionary. I came away with even more drive to find people who are ready for baptism.

In addition to this crazy extraordinary week, it was Stake Mini Missionary weekend. I guess once a year the Laurels and Priest Quorom comes with the missionaries all weekend long! Kinda cool, right? I think if I went on one before, I would feel so much better about coming out. It definitely isnt knocking on doors all day (at least not in this area). It was SO great. We got Missy who is also the Presidents daughter and shes a powerhouse! Shes got her moms sass and her dads cheerfulness. We joked off a ton and told stories and got in insight scoop into the Presidents life. She will be an incredible missionary next year and I learned a lot from her.

Funny story so we were done with a lesson when we noticed a family huddled around the tree, so naturally we started talking to them. Sure enough their cat is stuck 20 ft. in this tree and they cant get up. Sis Robertson  immediately started "monkey-ing" it and got stuck as well. So as a combined effort she climbed on my shoulders to the tree to the cat! It was hilarious, like who else would do that?! Three minutes later we were walking and a man walks up and asks if we've seen a chicken whose name was Pot Pie! We laughed and said no. He asked us to keep an eye out for him. So we secretly went on a chicken hunt while we tracted in the area, yelling "Pot Pie you here" and making every chicken joke we could think off :)

Other awesome story, we get a call from a former investagator named Mama Musada to help her weed her garden. We showed up and it was a jungle growing everywhere! 4 foot long weeds covered ever inch with waist long grass and pokey bushes. My companion and I looked at each other and laughed. We met Mama Musada who is this 80 yr old Hindu woman who is missing several teeth. She gave us a rusty rake and we went to work :) Every two minutes Musada would yell stuff like "You get that weed" and "Eat your Gatorade" and "I think the cats stuck in the toliet again." It was so bizarre but very entertaining!

I love you all and thank you so much for your support and writing to me. I get super excited when I see them and I appreciate them 

Sister Emily Coley 

BD Election first two paragraphs -about foreordination which is jaw-dropping

Photos: 1. Mini Missionary 2. Saving the Cat 3. Blueberry pancakes we made 

Week 7 - Chicago

Hey y'all,

I can't believe the summer is almost over! I feel like it just started. I hope you all are enjoying your summer vacation.

This week was full of teaching appointments which I'm so grateful for. Some of our investigators are really progressing and others.. well I guess are not ready for the gospel just yet :) I think I'm slowly understanding why people say missions are hard because you really put so much time, thought, prayer and emotion into people who turns ya down. But theyre find the truth eventually. I'm enjoying every twist and turn. Every lesson is taught differently to every person and you never quite know what you're walking into :) Weve already have had some really... odd lessons with odd investigators beliefs that has been quite entertaining to say the least.

 Yesterday one of our investigators whose been trying to get off work on Sundays for weeks got to come and we were overjoyed! On one of my first days, my trainer stopped a Filipino man named John on his bike and we've been teaching him ever since. He kept showing us his tie hes going to wear to church and it was a miracle that his boss's heart was soften.

Now I am a firm believer that God puts people in your path for specific reasons. We were leaving a nursing home after visiting one of our investigators when a woman stopped and asked us if we would give a spiritual message to her dying brother. We were so excited to teach the Plan of Salvation that we were practically skipping down the hallway when a worker stops us in our tracks and started freaking out. Luckily she was a member. She got caught up in an awful controlling relationship for years and hasn't been anywhere but her home and work. She said the one thing that kept her going was her faith in the Book of Mormon and Jesus Christ loves for her. She escaped this relationship a few weeks ago and has been praying to find the church. We happily gave the address and now were teaching her the gospel again. It was so powerful to me that God puts everyone in your life there for a reason but you must talk to them in order to know why they're put there. I love y'all!!

Sister Emily Coley

D&C 93: 10-20 is an incredible study on how Jesus Christ became perfect. Highly recommend!

Photos: 1. Biking to church with John 2. Park we like to contact in 3. Heading towards the Promise Land ;)

Week 6 - Chicago

Hey y'all :)

Wow so many great blessings happened. Sis. Robertson and I sat down and said we don't want to just be missionaries but we wanted to be legendary missionaries with big goals fully trusting in God that he will provide a way and sure enough that was our week. Full of prayers, referrals and lessons and we had FUN! 

We were told that this area was a dead area for months. We are right at the boarders of Chicago which means there is a third of people below the poverty level and Id say nearly 75% knows English as a second language. However this means the people are so humble and willing to believe that God will bless them. Every street is basically like entering a new country. I feel so blessed. I really feel like I've got the cream of the crop and I can picture this place thriving in the gospel. 

So far I've learned how to contact people in Taglong, Spanish, ASL and a bit of Italian. But whats cool is I learned ASL in high school and I've been able to interpret the sacrament meeting to a Deaf member which has been awesome.  

Cool miracle, last week people would ask for appointments on Wednesday but I kept feeling like something was on that day so we would change days. I was so surprise when Wednesday came and we had nothing to do but find! Sure enough we were contacting and met Melanie who wasn't doing anything so we toured her around the church building and the Spirit was super strong. In the middle of the tour, a member called and ask if we could met his old medical professor who's going through a hard time and the only time he could was tonight!! After that dinner we got a Book of Mormon referral (those are the best) and met a Filipino couple who is searching for modern revelation! We got 5 new investigators in one day all thanks to the Lord preparing these people!! 

Other amazing blessing, we went to church after inviting several of our investigators to come but really only expected two to be there. We showed up and there were 7 all willing to stay and the ward members were jumping all over making sure they felt welcome and loved. It was so beautiful, were going to have a crazy next week but are goal is to average 3 lessons a day. 

I cant believe how much the Lord has blessed us and Im filled with his joy. When were willing to give ourselves to God, he can perform mighty miracles that will go above and beyond our expectations. Have a great week! 

Sister Emily Coley 

Alma 22: 12-13 

Photos: 

1. Victory ice cream 2. My trainer hit her year mark so a member took us for deep dish pizza 3. Sisters missionaries in our ward 4. Chicago