14 months and Christmas

Wonderful Christmas week here is the wonderful land of Victoria. This has been one of the greatest Christmas's of my life. Not going to lie I was sad to be away from my family this Christmas season. again. But Heavenly Father really made it a Christmas to never forget. First of all this week we had amazing weather all week. It was 10c (50f) all week, that's my kind of Christmas. I think I had my fill for snow from last year.

   On Christmas eve this year we were trying to find out recent convert Ruby so we could give her our Christmas present. We called the party she was supposed to be at so we could surprise her. She wasn't there. So we eventually called her to find out she didn't want to leave her boss home alone on Christmas. So she invited us over (we had never been invited in her boss's home before) Sister Dexter and I ran around finding different Christmas items to bring to there house. It ended up being so much fun. We sang Christmas carols and her boss has invited us back. Afterwards we went to a German Christmas eve party (Amber you would be so proud) We had a Christmas tree lighting and then sand Christmas carols in German and English :) It was so full of the spirit I couldn't even believe it.

   Christmas morning we did our studies and opened presents and then I had the wonderful opportunity to Skype my family!!!! I was so excited! I hadn't seen my family in 14 months!! I Just love you all so much! I loved seeing all of you and hope much you haven't all changed! Sometimes I feel like I am going to come home to my nephews ageing like 10years haha. After skype we went out caroling with another set of missionaries. It was funny because it was like we were holding people hostage at their door. haha They didn't want to slam the door. It was awesome haha

   Christmas night we ate dinner with a family in our ward. They are from Whales and Porto Rico. Then we finished up the night with the lovely recent convert Erika from Vancouver YSA. She was home in Victoria for Christmas. So we got to go hang out with her and her Chinese family on Christmas night. Talk about a lot of ethnicity. I loved it. I even got to play a Christmas song on the piano for Erika's family (mom you would be so proud of my piano playing skills)

   I just loved being able to be here for Christmas this year. There isn't anywhere I would rather be! Also I cant believe I have been gone for 14 months!!! Seeing my family I was like "where did the time go?"

I hope you all have a wonderful week and I love you all and Happy New Year!!!!!!!

Love

Your island Princess

Sister Emmaline Neubert

Merry Christmas

Dearest Family and Friends,

   I wanted to wish you all a Merry Christmas from the beautiful Victoria, BC. This week has been a great week full of lots of Christmas conversations with everyone! I love being able to talk with people around this time of year. They are so full of the spirit of Christmas. Even if they don't believe in God they are so full of joy this time of the year (duh, its the spirit).

   Sister Dexter and I have been sharing the message of all the activities that are going on down here. They have a live nativity right now where the whole community comes out and the city even shuts down some streets to accommodate everyone that comes. Sister Dexter and I are helping out with that on Tuesday night. Thankfully there are a million missionaries here in Victoria so we just really swarm that place.

   Sister Dexter and I have loved going to visit one of our members in the old folks home here. We just walk in and they all swarm us. We have been singing Christmas Carols the last couple weeks with them and they just love it. We also love it because it just brightens everyone's day. Its also great because all of there family that are visiting always join in and the staff. So when we walk in everyone knows we are going to have a good time.

   Its been a rainy week this week. I have enjoyed being soaked from head to toe and looking like a drowned rat. But hey, its only 8c here. I can not complain at all!!! Island life is the life for me!! Its so warm!!

   Well I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas!!!! I am so excited to get to Skype my family for the first time on my mission this Christmas!!! I love you all. Merry Christmas to all and to all a goodnight!!!!!!!!

love

Your island Princess

Sister emmaline Neubert

They sang as they walked and knocked...

The sister missionaries sang as they knocked and walked and knocked and walked annnnnd knocked. This song basically just describes my week. Sister Dexter and I did a lot of walking and knocking this week. We are so darn determined to find a family to teach this Christmas. So we just kept going and going. I love street contacting into people. But we just know that all the legit families are going to be behind the doors. So we are still currently looking. We found some nice Chinese families that don't speak English so we just pass them to the Chinese missionaries. But we are still trying to find our family. Good thing we are a determined bunch.

   Victoria is also the coolest place to be during Christmas time. The church puts on Christmas activities left and right. I love it so much. Also every one in Victoria loves the Mormons. Thank heavens. Nothing harder then people not liking you! It makes it so much fun to go door to door. Only problem is that they are all involved in their own church.

   This week we had a Victoria Zone Christmas conference. It was so great. We just talked about different gifts and sacrifices we would like to give to our Savior this Christmas season. I am still currently contemplating mine. (sarcasm is a hard to give up) Then I had the chance to do a musical number... yes you read that correctly. I, Sister Neubert played the piano in public! I was so scared!!!! But I had a sister accompany me with the violin and it was wonderful. We played Silent Night.

   This week we also had our Ward Christmas party and Christmas music program. It was great! I love the season and the spirit that comes with it. I hope you all have an amazing week and also try to find a gift that you would like to give the Savior this year and if your unsure on what to give then check out this video and discover the gifthttp://www.mormon.org/Christmas

Love you all!!!!

Love your island princess

Sister Emmaline Neubert

Also my address this lovely Christmas season is:

Sister Neubert

4451 Tyndall Ave

Victoria, BC

V8N 3S4

Canada

10c don't mind if I do!

Another great week in the lovely land of Victoria, BC. I just love this place so much/ It has been so warm all week. No rain, just blue sky's. This week has been a crazy one with exchanges and helping out other sisters. Sister Dexter and I are co district leaders? Yea its weird. But we are over 3 sets of sisters and 1 senior couple. We are out and about with other sister often. Its fun because then its like I get to serve in lots of other areas all over Victoria.

   This week we had a wonderful dinner with Ruby and another recent convert over at a members home. It was so great. We read the bible story of Christ's birth. Ruby had never read it before (her last church the members weren't allowed to read scriptures..) Then we watched the video He is the Gift.(http://www.mormon.org/christmas) Watch it. Its the bomb! It was a wonderful time we all had together. The ward is just so welcoming to Ruby and the other recent converts. its such a blessing! They all just love her and invite her to help with there Christmas decorating. She has never celebrated before. So anytime we see a Christmas tree or anything she just loves to take pictures.

   I love being a missionary around the Christmas season and I have been blessed to do it twice. the sprit is so alive and in the air. Not much happened this week. We have been talking to a lot of people on the streets and at their houses. They are all getting ready for the season. I love it so much! It also makes it so much easier for us to talk to them because we just start off with " Hey we are missionaries and we are talking to people about Christmas, do you believe in Christ?" Its the best! Just picture me saying that a lot!

   I love you all and I hope you have an amazing week!!!!!!!!!!!

love

your island princess

Sister Emmaline Neubert

ps mom thanks for all the cookies!!!! they were a hit last night at out hot chocolate and cookie party at the Christmas devotional!!

Rubys Baptism

What a wonderful week in the beautiful land of Victoria. We got a little skiff of snow this week. But we still stayed around 5C all week. All I can say is this is amazing compared to last year! Vanderhoof -30+ Right around now. Good luck up there all my wonderful Vanderhoovians!!!!! I still love you. Just not the cold :)

   This week Sister Dexter and I saw so many wonderful miracles. This week was a transfer week and we are both staying together here for another 6 weeks. halleluiah! We celebrated Thanksgiving with some other sister in our district. It was wonderful. Sister Dexter was able to whip out a Thanksgiving feast in like 30min. She's the bomb! Almost as good of a cook as Sister Mathialagan! It was a great Thanksgiving.

   Then this week Sister Dexter and I had been trying to find new ways to find people. So the day of Ruby's baptism we decided we would literally text everyone and their dog and invite them. We were getting the coolest text's back. But my favorite one was the one  that said "My youngest son has never been baptized, How do you go bout doing that?" We found out her so is 10 and now we are just need a find a time to meet with both of them. We were like "saaaaaayyyyyyyyy what?!

   Ruby got baptized on Saturday night. We invited a few people to come and we were just hoping the few more would show up. In the end we had so many come to support Ruby that we had to move everything into the chapel. She was so nervous and simply just felt so much love. After she came out of the water she just started crying. She asked us right after if she could get up and speak to everyone there at the baptism and share her testimony! She did so great! She is just such a blessing to Sister Dexter and I. She is so full of the spirit and just loves everyone around her! At church yesterday she just kept going up and talking to everyone and hugging everyone in the ward. She just loves them as family and they all love her so much!

   This week was great! I am excited to see the adventures this next week has in store for me  :)

Love you all so much!!! Happy December 1!

Love your island princess

Sister Emmaline Neubert

The relief society dinner (below) 

13 months!

Another week has come and gone. The miracles have been abounding!

This last week Sister Dexter helped me fulfill my dreams of being able to go to a light house. Its the oldest standing lighthouse in Victoria. I just about died and went to heaven :)

   This week I have been doing a lot more sincere prayer about following the sprit and where we need to go and also asking God more sincerely trying to find more prepared people and also for the other missionaries to be able to find people. Its insane how well Heavenly Father answers our prayers. This week we were able to find people to teach! It had been a while since we had found anyone that would keep there return appt. We were also able to find people for the missionaries around us. One is Aelita she is from China and told us she had been praying for missionaries to find her. The other one is James and he has always wanted to check out our church, and you know what, he showed up in a white shirt and tie to church the next day! It was wonderful!

   Another miracle was that we have been asking our members to pray for our baptismal date Ruby. We have been able to get a lot of our ward members in on it. Then yesterday in Church they announced Ruby's baptism for this Saturday the 29th and after sacrament everyone was going up to Ruby telling her that they had been praying for her and that she was always in their prayers. It was so awesome! Ruby just felt so loved and welcomed into the ward! It was an answer to our prayers about Ruby. We just wanted to help her feel more loved and welcomed into the ward and the ward super stepped up yesterday!

   Well I cant believe that I am hitting my 13th month mark this week. This is also my 3rd thanksgiving away from home in a row. Family just know that I am thankful for you!!!!!! I'm not trying to avoid you! :)

I love you all!!!!!! Keep choosing the right and finding missionary opportunities!

Love,

your island princess

Sister Emmaline Neubert

Food Coma?

Such a wonderful wee this week. I feel the fire coming back to me. Through lots of prayer and being willing to do what the Lord has asked me to do. This week was great we taught our lovely Filipina Ruby a lot. She has a baptismal date for November 29. We are really excited for her.

   Sister Dexter and I are doing great we are really just trying to get the ward more involved with the work. We have finally come to the realization that sometime we just strongly encourage members to take the lead more. We had a wonderful zone meeting this week. For some weird reason all of us sisters were all feeling the black and white stripes that day :)

   So something new in our mission is that we are now allowed to eat meals with members. I was so excited at first. But now its becoming a little more then I bargained for. This is just my day yesterday. After Church we had Dinner with our Chinese recent convert and our Filipina investigator Ruby over at our Hispanic members house. Of course they want us all to eat and eat and eat. After our late lunch sister Dexter and I went out finding then we had dinner with out British Stake President and his Family. After Dinner I thought I was going to pop! So of course the smart thing to do it go to a dessert party with Russian recent convert at a Russians house! So much culture and so much food!!! Last nigh when we were driving home I just looked at Sister Dexter and said I was never going to eat again! If I keep this up I will be rolling home! haha (don't worry mom, I wont be) I have no idea how people go on missions in western culture and survive member meals! I am open to suggestions!!!????

   My new favorite Cd on my mission is officially Saturdays Warrior. I feel so much like the missionaries in the beginning. Just to quote some of my favorite song "We are not your ordinary fearlessly extraordinary, working righteous harry carry in our HUMBLE WAY" (basically its a song about being a humble missionary... look it up all of you non missionary people)

   Any who haha This week was great. Sister Dexter is the bomb and just keeps me pushing along! Also I have a piano in my apartment so I have been busting out all the Christmas music all week! Tis the Season! I hope everyone has a wonderful week. I love you all so much!

   Sorry this email is SO scattered I am currently suffering of a food coma!

LOVE YOU

Sincerely your island princess

Sister Emmaline Neubert

Blue sky's are shining on me!

What a wonderful week we have had in the beautiful land of Victoria Canada. This week Sister Dexter started the week of with getting a well deserved pedicure :) I have been waiting to do that my whole mission. I have always had my toes painted since I was a lifeguard and swimmer. Its been so weird not to for the last year+. It was wonderful, they put us in a massage chair for an hour. so. worth. it!!!

   We are still teaching Ruby (our Philippina princess) She is so cute! She just wants to follow Jesus Christ so bad. We were teaching her this week and we were teaching her at a lake down the street from her house. Just picture this. A glossy lake, the sun out, all of the leaves have turned different colors and the rowing team is out practicing for the day and I was preaching the gospel. Could it possibly get any better?! I think not!!

   We have been visiting members like crazy here. Its crazy they are all converts, return missionaries, well established. But then its like pulling teeth to have any of them do missionary work. I vow now to never become stagnant in missionary work. So Everyone out there in the world. Start doing your missionary work!!!! There is so many ways to do it. non members, members, less actives, family history. Just pick one and do it!

Anyways :)

I love you all and I hope you all have a wonderful week!!!! Keep choosing the right and go do some missionary work today!

Love

Your island princess

Sister Emmaline Neubert