Last day in His Vineyard

Monday, October 30, 2017

California Modesto Mission: Sister Emily Guilott
April 6, 2016-November 1, 2017
(Last day in His Vineyard....literally!)

I honestly don't know how to start this blog post... I have been pondering and praying for what I could say during this blog post and I hope that it will help you and inspire you in any way to do good. I have almost completed the time I am serving in the California Modesto Mission and I am changed. I have been reminiscing about when I received my mission call December 17th in 2015, reading it and seeing the line: "you are called to serve in the California Modesto Mission..." and I had an overwhelming peace come over my whole being. I know now that was the Holy Ghost confirming to me that was the place the Lord had called me to serve. I know this was what the Lord wanted me to do, even though I did not want to go on a mission earlier in my life.

During my mission, I have gone through so many experiences that I could never take away or would want to take back. Yes, the mission has been the hardest experience I have had yet in my life, but I can just tell you that I never would want to take away this experience. I want to thank all the people who have supported me while serving my mission and thank all the people I have come to know while serving. I love you all and I am so grateful for your friendship. It has been a privilege and a honor to serve here and be under the direction of my mission President, President Palmer. I know that I needed him in my life; I love him very much and now consider him a best friend and a mentor. I love serving. I love helping others, whether to serve them physically or to serve them spiritually. But no matter what, I know "that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God" (Mosiah 2:17) I hope all of you that have been reading these blogs have been able to feel uplifted and felt motivated to serve others around you. I know that my mission has helped me be able to serve more and to be able to see God's children as He sees them. I know that the scripture in Doctrine and Covenants section 18 verses 10-16 are what I feel. (I didn't write it out so you can go read it yourself and feel what the Lord is trying to teach you through these verses.) ;)

I love you all. I wanted to end with testifying that I know that my Savior Jesus Christ lives. He lives and loves all you us. He completed His Atonement for you, to help you break the bonds of death and to help motivate all of us to repent/change so we can be with Him and our Heavenly Father. I know that this is God's church on the earth. There is no doubt in my mind that it is not. I know that the prophet Joseph Smith saw Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, and that through the power of God that he helped restored God's church back on the earth and that he was a prophet and continues to be the prophet to have restored the gospel in these latter days. I know with all my heart that the Book of Mormon is the word of God, it is true. If any man would get closer to God, it would be through reading, pondering and praying about the Book of Mormon. I love this book and will continue to read it daily. I know that God's power is back on the earth, the Priesthood power, and it is the power to act in God's name. And I honor this sacred power and am so grateful for all worthy men to hold such a sacred gift.

I know that families can be together forever. I know that one day we can be in the presence of God. I know that He wants us to return home, so we need to keep his commandments to return with Him. I know that temples are the houses of the Lord. I miss it and can't wait to go back and worship there and feel of the peace that God can give when being in one of His holy temples. I love my Savior and I love you all. Thank you again for following my adventure through reading these blogs. :) I love my family and I am so grateful to be with them for time and all eternity. I will see them soon, and I can't wait to hug them. I will miss my California Modesto Mission, but there will be always a place in my heart for my mission. To conclude, I know that my mission vision is now my life vision which states: We are one with the Savior in doing the will of the Father. :) 

Love, 

Sister Emily Guilott 

My awesome companion Sister Rose! 
She is staying here and has a new awesome companion Sister Sharp! :D

I FOUND 2 BABY MARDI'S.... I AM SOOOOO EXCITED TO SEE MY CAT. ahhaa. Yes. I am a cat lady. ;)

Random streets we find while biking in Oakdale

My ghetto Oakdale apartment thought to give me a gift and left me at the foot of my desk a dying cockroach...
Yep. I was not happy. at all. 

Attempted bike selfie 

I love Sister Rose. She  loves driving, so I let her drive. I hate driving.

EXCHANGES IN STOCKTON AND I GOT TO BE WITH PREVIOUS COMPANIONS.
SO AWESOME. Dream come true.

October 23, 2017

The sunset of my mission...so bittersweet!

We got our transfer calls and I got called to extend my mission to be in the New Zealand mission. Just Kidding. That is next week. I can't believe there are just two more blog posts left....

This week has been full of up's and down's. But isn't that life? Well, I just can say that being a missionary has been the best thing for me to be able to not only help others come unto Christ, but it has helped me be able to handle situations that could be difficult at times. I just love being here and I have learned so much. I hope anyone reading this who is thinking about serving a mission GOES. It will help you so much. I can promise you it will be hard, but it will help you to see how much the Lord's hand is in all the aspects of your life. 

But I wanted to share some miracles with you this past week. Remember, we don't have anyone on date for baptism. But we still find amazing miracles with everyone we are teaching. It isn't always about the baptisms; we are also here to help others come closer to Christ so they eventually can help others do the same. Some highlights:

1. My companion and I were biking in the morning and trying to find people. We knocked on... 30 doors a day it feels like. And no one is usually interested. So we were at a slow/still point. We were thinking about it. Sister Rose is amazing: she suggested we try a less active family's home. We had been by before but they are never home. So we went by and we saw the garage door open and a car in the drive way! We went up and knocked on the door, the sweet woman let us in! She said how she got invited to clean the church and just got done with that. Also, how this past week she has gotten many emails from past friends in high school thanking her for her example and how they are members because of her. WOW! God has been preparing her! She was so happy to talk to us and she was able to tell us that we can come back and teach her and her family more. That was a HUGE miracle, and I am so grateful for my companion listening to her prompting and how we were able to follow the Lord!

2. ]We are teaching a recent convert who has been dealing with a lot of things, especially from his past. We started a weekly Book of Mormon reading with him. So the night we were going to do it, he was frustrated with life. He decided to walk to the church, which he never does. As he was walking, he came across this young adult who was also having a hard day. They both walked and talked together and got to the church. We then got there and started talking to both of them. COME TO FIND OUT, this young adult is MORMON and got baptized in Idaho a couple years ago. We were able to all have a reading together, and we even felt prompted to share Alma 34 and talk about our purpose in this life. The spirit was so strong and it was a great experience for the recent convert. He was saying how he needed to serve more, and we were able to show him how he served this man and helped him out! That was an amazing experience for me. It just proved to me how we should be talking and helping everyone around us! The Lord puts people in our path for a reason and I am just so grateful for being able to learn that. 

3.  We had a cancelled appointment and we were kind of upset... But then we got a text from a investigator telling us to come over! SO WE DID! We went over and got to talk to her and get to know her more. She loves Disney (WHICH I LOVE DISNEY TOO... maybe too much...) and how she use to dance and brought out these ornaments of Disney characters, which I loved, and we had a great time. We then felt prompted to watch The Restoration dvd with her. She was enjoying it and the spirit was so strong. But out from the corner of my eye, I see this creature bug crawling toward my companions bag. I didn't want to disrupt the movie, but it got closer and closer. I had to say something. So I did.  Our investigators husband got up and killed the creature bug.... We called it the Satan bug. (Ff you want to know what bug it was, we found out it was a Jerusalem cricket/Satan bug! It was as big as a mouse.) But the spirit was still there and we had a great discussion with her! It was a great lesson. 

I love my mission! I love the Lord! I love being a missionary! I love you all! I hope you enjoyed this blog! Have a great day! 

Love, Sister Guilott 

My wonderful companion

A favorite family

October 16, 2017

LOVE MY HOMEWARD IN UTAH!! That little package made my day! THANK YOU!! :D 

GOOD AFTERNOON FAITHFUL FOLLOWERS WHO STILL READ MY BLOG!

So!! Can I just tell you how funny it is when you are having great weeks and then suddenly... your week is as still and slow as the number of emails you get as a missionary who has been out over 17+ months... This week was a rough week. Not to be negative, but we have usually many lessons during the week. But we had a total of 11 lessons cancel on us this week. Including investigators, part member families, less actives... I have to say though: My companion and I had to just laugh at it and not be too discouraged during this week when these appointments would fall through. We would get a text and one of us would say: "oh, it is probably a cancelled appointment." AND SURE ENOUGH! We laughed about it all. We continued on, trying to keep a positive attitude through it all.  But here are some funny moments of this week, I promise we had many spiritual experiences... But it is fun to share the silly things we do.

*We got to a man's trailer where we usually have our lessons with him (he is now coming back to church and wants to receive the Melchizedek Priesthood) and he told us he had to go get something... We were kind of scared at first, his house is kind of a junk yard and we were scared he would give us something he found... haha. But he came out with a little box and placed it on my lap... IT WAS FULL OF KITTENS. OH MY GOSH. I WAS IN HEAVEN. We were able to play with kittens and have a great lesson with him about keeping the Sabbath day holy. By the way, I think an activity you can do on the Sabbath day is play with kittens in a box. :)

* Outside of our apartment, we have all these pretty roses outside and if you know me... I love roses. And we were going to have an interview with our mission president and his wife that day. Sister Palmer had said that she loved yellow roses. We had the brainy idea to go and cut some roses. So we went early in the morning to cut the roses. Funny thing... our neighbors are under many different "influences" if you know what I mean... And the roses kind of smelled like those different "influences" but they were so pretty, so we put them in a vase and went down to our interview and gave them to Sister Palmer. She looked at them and was so happy. Then... she smelled them. She told us: "WOW! These smell great! Usually yellow roses smell very bad! I am so impressed! Where did you find these?"  Yep, hahahahahaha!! COOL! :) 

The roses we gave to Sister Palmer ;) Pretty huh?! Who knew that there would be roses in October. ;)

* Best experience of the week... drum roll please... Sister Rose and I were about to leave for our dinner and she closed the door. She gave me a stare... I asked her what was up. She said: "Sister Guilott, I locked the keys in the house." WE JUST LAUGHED!! We had no keys to the house OR to our car... so after many phone calls, we got a hold of our district leaders who have a spare key for emergencies. We got a member to drive us to them (since they only have bikes) and we got the key back! AND WE WENT TO OUR DINNER APPOINTMENT ONLY 2 minutes late... WHAT AN ADVENTURE. :) 

Our view as we were trying to call people as we were locked out. ;) haha!

I just love all the experiences I have on my mission. And I have learned that you can ALWAYS find joy in the crazy days. Even during a week where so many things fall through in your life, you can count the many blessings that the Lord has given to you. :) I love you all. I hope you have a great day!

Love, 

Sister Guilott 

Cute puppies we found as we were looking for people in the country area! 

October 9, 2017

Past and present companions

I can't believe how fast October is flying by! The weather has been only in the 70-80's! It feels nice and cold... ;) I bet all of you Utah friends are freezing. ;) Just kidding! I just am trying the best that I can to make each day the best I can make it! Even on the slow days, I can see so many miracles that God has graciously given to me and my sweet companion! I would love to share some experiences this week! And I promise there will be pictures. I made it a commitment this past weekly planning to take more pictures, I hope you are proud of me Mom. :)

We had a fun day on Tuesday.  We got to go serve in the community and serve with many different people from different religions and it was so much fun! The people are usually a lot older and it is fun to hear how much they love their families and how God has been a huge influence in their lives. But then... WE GOT A SURPRISE LUNCH WITH MY PAST COMPANIONS!! Sisters Anderson and Bell! I was SO happy! I hope you enjoy the pics above ;) It is so fun to be with so many people that I adore and love. ;) 

The next day we went to a New Trainer meeting where all the trainers and new missionaries meet together and have a conference. This past transfer we had like... over 20 missionaries come in and BOY. There were so many missionaries, I just got SO excited about the work progressing and seeing the Lord's chosen people/missionaries all in the same room! I felt really old though... All the new faces, all the "kids" just out of high school. So fun! But I remember something a newer missionary had said that really touched my heart: he was talking about how the work as a missionary is difficult (I understand...). But he said: "He suffered for me, the least I can do is suffer for him...." AND THAT SPOKE TO ME. We can all go through life, but to really go through it we have to go through ups and downs. And as we suffer, we can relate to how Our Savior did actually suffer for ALL of our pains, sins, iniquities, our personal failings, and the suffering we will feel. I am SO grateful for my Savior who did perform His Atonement for all of us. He is real and I know that He lives! 

We then had the best lesson with an investigator we had to put in the Lord's hands for a couple of weeks to see how she would be... She was so happy to see us and had said of all the things she was going through... She had said that she was feeling down and had missed going to church, she felt that she was missing something... HOORAY! SPIRIT! ;) We knew that she was going through some difficult times with her family, especially with some members being under influences. We felt prompted to read 3 Nephi 17 with her. As we read, she was saying:"I can totally relate to this!" and you could tell she was feeling the spirit. We then invited her to pray about being baptized, and she said she would!! I just know that she may not be baptized in the next couple of weeks, but I know she will be someday! I am just so grateful to be able to be a "touch point" in her life. AND THE LORD IS DOING EVERYTHING FOR HER ANYWAY! 

I just love being a missionary, and I am so grateful I get to do the Lord's work. I love you all. I hope you enjoy all these pictures and experiences! I hope you have a wonderful week! 

Yours truly,

Sister Emily Guilott

October 2, 2017

Hello world! 

So two weeks ago the weather here in Oakdale was down into the 70's and then last week it was up in the 90's... Today, we woke up and it was sweater weather outside!! CRAZY!! 

We had zone conference this week and it was awesome! But the highlight of this week was definitely General Conference! It is very neat to be a missionary and listen to General Conference! I love receiving the revelation that is needed for the area we are serving in. I loved all the talks! If you haven't been able to watch or read General Conference, I invite you to do so! It is incredible!

The most exciting thing that happened this week was we had a lesson with one of our new investigators on Thursday and we invited her to be baptized this month. She was hesitant about it, so we invited her to pray about the day we were thinking of and see how she felt about it! We will see on Thursday what she is thinking. Pray for her! She is so interested and ready, and it is amazing to see how much faith she does have in letting us come over and teach her. 

I am so grateful for my mission. I love it so much. I love being here and helping others. I hope you all find ways to help others as our Savior helps you in your everyday life. I love you all so much! Have a great day!

Love, 

Sister Guilott 

September 25, 2017

HELLO WORLD!

This week was an amazing week! Sadly, we were praying really hard and my companion and I had to have a lot of the people we are teaching "be placed in the Lord's hands" for a while. Many of them were not committing to live the gospel and they were not going to church. That is usually hard, but we told them that we would see them every couple of weeks. So, that made me really sad. Because I know that I have limited weeks left, and I love them all so much.  One night I was praying and asking who needed to be found so we could teach and help them get closer to Him. The next day, was a day with lots of long time spent finding. We went door to door knocking, going through old investigators, and going to part member family's houses to find people. We didn't have much luck. We went the next day, doing the same thing... Not much luck either.  But that didn't get us down, we had faith that the Lord would help us find someone and put someone in our path. It was a week of patience, and we had a lesson with a part member family. A girl that the elders were teaching a long time ago had stopped teaching her, and we went over to meet her. We had an awesome discussion with them and she told us how she loves how she feels going to church, she feels wanted there. She even told us "my parents are not at all happy I married a 'Mormon,' but I love this church. I would like to be one one day actually..." Me and my companion were SO HAPPY! We asked her if we could teach her the lessons again, she was very excited and said yes!! :D I am so excited for her, and I am honestly SOOOO grateful for my Savior. Even though we had to endure many days of patience, our patience ended with the reward that we were desiring to have. I am so grateful to be a missionary, and even though I have limited time... That is not going to stop me from being a missionary for the rest of my life. You don't need a name tag to be one, but at the same time... My mission has completely changed me, the Lord has changed me to be what He wants me to be. And I am so indebted to Him for helping me to be the person He wants me to be. I love you all! I hope you have an awesome week!!!

LOVE,

SISTER GUILOTT :)

Hello!

I can't believe that I don't have many blog posts to post. I want to congratulate those who have been going through this adventure with me and reading these blog posts. But I can't believe how fast time is going. I can look back at LAST year and think about all the things I was going through and all the things I was doing! I am excited to finish strong.  I know that the work I am doing is VERY important; it is the most important work you can do on the earth: The Lord's work. I know it can get difficult (all missionaries and return missionaries can agree) but I know as you keep trying and have faith... things will work out. I found this quote and I thought it was perfect: 

You do have more faith than you think!! You keep on trying! AND DON"T GIVE UP! Here are some experiences I have had this week! :D 

Once upon a time, me and my companion where having a rough morning trying to contact people. We have been asked by the mission to go out from 10 am to 12 pm every day and got knock on doors and talk to people! SO WE DO THAT.   And one day this week,  no one was opening their doors. Or wanting to talk to us. ugh. Anyway. We decided to say a prayer and asking the Lord to direct us on what He wants us to go. NO JOKE. Right then we got a phone call from our old bishop, from the old ward we are serving in that got dissolved, and he said he needed help. His wife just was at the store and saw a sweet woman in the area that she knew happened to be a member but who hasn't gone to church in a long time! The Bishop told us he was trying to find the records of this woman for years, and that he had just found the address. He asked us if we could please go stop by when we could.... HOLY COW. WE ENDED THE CALL, AND WENT STRAIGHT TO THE ADDRESS. We got there and we knocked on the door. An adorable woman opened the door, she was in a rush, but she told us to come in! We started talking to her: she has had a rough life and is wanting to find peace in her life. We were able to bring up eternal families and the spirit was so strong. By the end of the discussion, she was in tears (including us) and telling us that "God sent you to me today, I needed this." We gave her a Book of Mormon to read, and we will follow up the next time we see her. We left the appointment with the confirmation that THE LORD DID DIRECT US TO HER. I am so grateful for the work, and how the Lord directs His missionaries. I love my mission. I know that this mission will just be the beginning of me being a missionary for the rest of my life. I love you all! 

Hope you have a wonderful day! 

Love, 

Sister Guilott ;)