Sick and Sicker

January 17, 2022

Union

Sister Emery DeMill

Tuesday, January 11:

I had a great day! We went to the hair salon and I got bangs! Haha, I thought "you only live once on the Mission so why not?!" But I love them! It'll be a fun change haha.

I got to talk to my family and Kov told me that he wants to get baptized because he wants to follow Jesus. He'll be turning 8 later this year! I love his sweet heart and his precious example to me that we can do better and be better everyday because we want to be like Jesus! It's just that simple.

We had such a wonderful lesson with our friend Jennifer. She received a Priesthood Blessing and the Spirit was strong and we could tell she was feeling Heavenly Father's love! But guess what? We put her on date!!! We're hoping she follows through and that it goes well. Please pray for Jennifer.

Also, a Brother from the Washington Ward (which goes to the same building as the Union Ward) called us and said how he heard about my singing in Sacrament on Sunday...so he asked if I could sing in their Ward in a couple of weeks! I guess I'm famous out here in Missouri! Haha, just kidding.

Wednesday, January 12:

Good, but slow day. It was nice and warm outside so we got to spend a lot of time out! We had a picnic during lunch and went for a nice walk in Washington, buttt we were feeling sick. We ended up having to cancel our appointments and moving them online.

We came home to our apartment and I made Sister DeMill some chicken noodle soup and we both took some time for ourselves to relax and feel a little better for our evening appointments.

Something sweet that happened:

On our walk in Washington, we passed a sweet lady and complimented on how pretty she looked. We continued walking, and she turned around to ask if I needed a coat *I didn't have one on* I said no, but she was willing to go to her car and get me an extra one! I love people!

Thursday, January 13:

We were feeling sick all day. We think it's just a head cold, but we're not sure. I had a sore throat and Sister DeMill had a fever, but we still went out to do the Lord's work because it doesn't stop!

We met some people who are searching for a new church to join! They seem very promising.

The rest of our day consisted of proselyting over the phone. It can be hard looking at our screens a lot, but we take breaks from it as much as we can.

A member made us soup and brought it by for us! We are being looked after.😊

One Highlight from this day:

We had a good District Council this morning over Zoom and our District Leader, Elder Reeder gave a list for the

"Key Indicators of a Successful Missionary"

1 is to SMILE CONSTANTLY. It's important to energetically share the joyful message we as missionaries have! Be happy to be a missionary!

2 is to LOVE OPENLY. Have resilience, be open-minded, have and show Christlike love!

3 is to INVITE CONSISTENTLY.

4 is to PRAY FERVENTLY. Talk to Heavenly Father always. He is mine and your life-line.

5 is to WORK DILIGENTLY. It is important to find joy in the work and to remember your focus for what you do!

6 is to OBEY WILLINGLY. Follow His commandments, keep the standards, and Heavenly Father will bless you for your efforts!

I thought this was a great list and you can apply it to your life too. Even though you may not be a full time proselyting Missionary, you can apply these Key Indicators into your day-to-day life! I know you will be richly blessed by doing so! I've definitely felt blessed for my efforts.

Friday, January 14:

We are surviving on herbal tea and cough syrup hahaha. Ah! I hate being sick!!

We both had sore throats and could barely talk, but we were doing everything we could to chug along! Haha. We're okay, don't worry.

We went to Walgreens to get the booster shot and spent a lot of our day in our apartment. We worked effectively though!

We got to go to the church building to do some work, and Bishop and Sister Daniel walked in and he said, "Look! It's Sister DeMill and Sister Swift!" *Because of my bangs* Hahaha.

I got to listen to a nice talk for personal study about the power of NOT knowing.

It was really good!

I learned that WE ARE OFTEN AT OUR BEST WHEN WE DON'T KNOW.

"When we operate without a lot of experience, we are more open-minded, we ask more questions, we listen more, we value feedback."

It was a really neat mindset!

The talk is called, The Power of Not Knowing by Liz Wiseman. Look it up!

Saturday, January 15:

We were dead this day! We woke up feeling so sick. We stayed in our apartment the entire day and were barely productive. We both had an extended personal study and got to take time to journal, and we took a really nice nap that we needed haha.

The STLs drove all the way from St. Louis to our apartment to bring us saltine crackers, chicken noodle soup, cough medicine, and tissues! They are so sweet. The Rockwood Sisters wrote us cards too. We are being looked after and cared for here!

Not going to lie, I missed my mom this day! She knows what to say and what to do all the time, but especially when I am sick. It made me appreciate her so much more. Mom, I love you!!

Sunday, January 16:

We stayed home from church to quarantine ourselves haha. But we had 4 of our friends attend Sacrament meeting!

We were able to be a lot more productive which felt extremely good. We went outside our apartment to scrape snow off people's windshields and ate lots of chicken noodle soup!

I'm thankful for the tender mercies Heavenly Father places in my life each day. He is in the details of every good thing. I feel so blessed to have warm winter clothes, the wonderful people in the Union Ward who check up on us all the time, for soup and nice tea that soothes my throat, for blankets, and for everything else I have!!

Look for the tender mercies from the Lord in your day TODAY. No matter what kind of day you're having, focusing on what you've been blessed with will make it better!

PICTURES:

Picnic in the car. (January 12)

Our beautiful walk in Washington. (January 12)

These signs that say, "Jesus, I Trust in You!" are everywhere around here!! (January 12)

Wiping snow off our windshield...it was chilly! (January 15)

Sweet Sister Stouffer and Sister Everett delivering our things. I love them! (January 15)