After 12 weeks in Aiken I have been asked to fulfill a new assignment. Today I was transferred to my new area: Pooler, Georgia. My new companion is Sister R from Lehi, Utah and she has been out for 10 months. We served around each other when I was in Perry and are both just so excited to be companions and to work hard. Pooler is right outside of Savannah, GA. There are also Spanish Elders in the Pooler Ward.We continue to serve as a Sister Training Leader companionship covering all the sister missionaries in the Savannah GA Stake. Currently, that includes companionships in Savannah, GA; Hilton Head, SC; and Statesboro, GA.

Leaving Aiken is perhaps the hardest thing I have done on my mission. I fell in love with the area and with the people almost instantly. Sister F and I have been so unified, we have seen incredible miracles in the work here, and we are teaching faithful  individuals whom the Lord has prepared to hear His word.

That being said, it was a wonderful last week!

On Friday, we travelled to Macon for missionary leadership council to set up our smartphones! We are now officially a technology mission. This means that we are back on our Facebook accounts to use them as a means of better communicating with our investigators. We can use our phones to have Skype lessons with investigators who can't meet in person, to stay in better contact with people we're teaching, and to access media resources for our teaching. Honestly, we haven't even began to realize the potential of these tools to further the work of the Lord but we are so excited to experiment and learn.

Saturday night was transfer calls. We were very sure that we would stay together another transfer. And yet, my name was called. That was so shocking. And I found myself wanting to feel excited and hopeful and anxious to be obedient. Instead I just felt sad to leave such a special place so very soon.

Goodbye is still hard. But I have a sure knowledge that God, who is all-knowing, directs this work. I know that He knows where Sister Gore needs to be and that He is preparing others that He needs me to find.

I have a testimony of the restored gospel. I know that Joseph Smith was and is a prophet of God. He did see God the Father and Jesus Christ. Under their instruction, Christ's church has been returned to the earth. The Book of Mormon is the word of God and I know that because it has changed me. Though I am still weak and imperfect, the Book of Mormon has been a tool through which I have, in part,become a "new creature in Christ". I know that God is merciful and that He desires for each of us to return to Him after this life. Jesus Christ lives. His grace is available to us, no matter how far or for how long we have strayed. I love the Lord. I love each of you.

Continue to "press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men."

Yours,
Sister Emma Gore

Goodbye to Akin  <3

Dear everyone,

Great news: On March 2 we will receive smartphones at mission leadership conference and we could not be more excited!! Missionary work has gotten harder in a really hilarious way since learning we will receive this technology because we are realizing all these new ways that we will be able to do the Lord's work and help His children to learn of Him. We have all these ideas and anticipation and we'll get to begin to act on that in 3 days!

This week went by so fast and now it's week 6 so transfers are next week. Sister F and I have been together for 12 weeks and I'm so grateful. She's taught me so much about so many things. God knew I needed her. And still do, honestly.

I went to North Augusta, SC on exchanges this week with Sister W who is such a powerhouse missionary. She finds so much joy in living and sharing the gospel and I really believe that that has affected the lives of her investigators. We met a lady on exchanges and gave her a Book of Mormon. After explaining what it is she said "This is the most awesomest thing I ever heard". We think so, too.

I know that God is a loving Father in Heaven. I know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and our Savior. I know that true and lasting peace that can withstand the tests of life can only be found in Christ. I am grateful for the scriptures which invite us to live the gospel and become true disciples.

I love you. Thank for you being such great examples to me. Thanks for your prayers.

Keep on keeping on.

-Sister Emma Gore

Akin ward luau

Dear all,

This week I turned 20 and it was actually the best birthday I've ever had. It was so full of little tender mercies. Here's a few:

1. My incredible companion somehow got a ton of people from the ward to write on these index cards she had and then managed to tape them up all over the apartment so I woke up on my birthday to find them. Like over 50 of them.

2. We were having dinner witha family whom we love to death. On Sunday, She had asked me what I wanted for dinner on my birthday and I didn't know so I said I'd text her.  And then I didn't because.. I really didn't know. On Thursady I said to Sister Fielding, "Okay, what I really want is like a good homemade cheeseburger, and then we moved on. And showed up at their house. And ate homemade cheeseburgers for dinner. 

3. Saturday night was also stake conference for the congregations in the area so I got to see Sister O whom I love dearly and she brought me cake and then like 30 missionaries sang to me how fun is that?

4. As we drove home from stake conference we saw FIREWORKS. I love fireworks. 

It was just an awesome day and I felt that Heavenly Father was aware of me. 

I really don't believe that there are coincidences in this life. I do believe that God knows and loves His children and wants them to recognize His hand in all things. Elder Rasband said that what we might call 'coincidences' are actually part of God's 'divine design'.

Ronald A. Rasband taught, "When we are righteous, willing, and able, when we are striving to be worthy and qualified, we progress to places we never imagined and become part of Heavenly Father’s “divine design.” Each of us has divinity within us. When we see God working through us and with us, may we be encouraged, even grateful for that guidance...The Lord’s hand is guiding you. By “divine design,” He is in the small details of your life as well as the major milestones. As it says in Proverbs, “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; … and he shall direct thy paths.” I testify that He will bless you, sustain you, and bring you peace."

I really cannot express the gratitude and happiness that I feel. I am so blessed to be able to serve the Lord. I am thankful for my mission and for the incredible experiences I have had and people I have met. I am thankful for the really hard times and dry patches and also for the times when I just feel on top of the world. 

Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He did come to this Earth. He will come again. Learn of Him. Find true peace in Christ when the world offers none.

I love you! Please have a great week and laugh at yourself when you need to and do something kind. :)

-Sister Gore

Happy Birthday Sister Gore

Hey hey!

This email will be short because I have a lot of replying to do FYI. :)

On Saturday of this week we ate with a family who has been in the area forever. Very Southern. Such good people that just love missionaries. I was so privileged as to finally have low country boil for dinner!! Basically.. Low country boil is crab legs, shrimp, potatoes, sausage, and corn on the cob all boiled together. You season it however you like and it's basically killer. Typically, low country boil is poured onto a tablecloth or newspaper when it's ready and everyone just eats it with their hands.This family ate it out a wheelbarrow once. Our meal was a little more civilized. We used plates and were served from a big pan, not the table. But we did use bench pliers to break our crab legs and it was messy and so good and then we finished it off with banana pudding, another Southern favorite. 

On Monday we went biking! In 11 months I have yet to bike on my mission but here we are! Oh it was so fun. We got to be outside basically all day except for in our lessons which was great and the air felt incredible and we had opportunities to talk to so many people that we otherwise wouldn't be able to talk to! I love talking to people. I love meeting people and being able to invite everyone to come closer to Jesus Christ and to hear our message. We have been praying that God would put people in our path that are ready to receive the gospel and as we have talked with everyone, weather or not they are ready or desire to learn, I feel great peace and know that I am doing what God wants me to do. It's not always an easy thing to initiate that conversation. Sometimes you know it's gonna be awkward. But I've never once regretted talking to someone. I just pray that they can be touched by our interaction and feel of God's love for them.

I have been pondering this week about our life before Earth. Pre-Earth life! That was the main topic of sacrament meeting on Sunday. One of the speakers said, "When we truly understand who we are and where we come from, that changes our actions and trajectory in this life." Where did we come from? Who are we, then? I love Jeremiah 1:5 which teaches us that we God knew us before we came to Earth. He is the father of our Spirits. God created you. He knows you completely. He understands your mannerisms and strengths and weaknesses. God is a loving Father.Desiring to give us all the blessings that He enjoys, including a physical body, God presented a plan by which we could come to an Earth and experience mortality in bodies and in families and learn and grow to be more like Him and Jesus Christ. We each accepted this plan and have come to Earth at this specific time for a purpose. 

How precious a truth. My invitation to you this week is to ponder and pray about who you are and what your relationship with God is. Allow God to teach you about your divine nature. 

Have a great week. :)

-Sister Gore