Weekly E-Mail - August 8th - Last One!

Hey Everyone,

Okay sooo that was a complete accident on Thursday when I sent that
email. haha so embarrassed that that happened hahaha. Story of my
life.

Well it's my last P-Day & last time emailing! So I just wanted to thank
you all for the love & support & prayers you've all given me over the
past 18 months. I've said this countless times, but deciding to serve
a mission was the best decision I've ever made. I've learned so many
lessons & have been able to feel love of my Heavenly Father for me &
for the people I've taught. I know that God is our Loving Heavenly
Father & He loves us more than we can even comprehend. I know we can
always turn to Heavenly Father in prayer & He is always there for us.
I know that the mission has changed me because I've learned how to use
the Atonement more fully in my life & have had the incredible
opportunity of watching others change through Jesus Christ & His
Atonement. I know that Jesus Christ atoned for each one of us & that
He lives today.  I wish I could explain everything I've learned on my
mission, but I think that's why Heavenly Father set it up this
way-that we all get called to different places with people that we
don't know, so we can each have our own individual experiences. I've
been blessed with the best companions & amazing wards & have made the
greatest friendships here with the people of Sacramento. I know that
Joseph Smith was a prophet of God called to restore God's church back
on the Earth today. I know the priesthood has been restored & we can
be sealed with our families forever! I know The Book of Mormon is the
word of God & any concern can be answered by feasting upon the words
of The Book of Mormon. I've loved being an instrument in the Lords
hands in bringing people closer to Jesus Christ & I know I've been
brought closer to Him by doing so.

This past week we had the opportunity to teach a 17 year old boy,
Ethan. He's so prepared & at the end of the lesson he asked us what
the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints meant to us. I bore my
testimony of how much I love this gospel. Of course I started to tear
up thinking about the experiences I've had over the course of my
mission & how I know that it's the gospel that brings true happiness!
Before my mission I thought of the gospel as a little section of my
life, but I feel like I more fully understand that the gospel is my
life-in every aspect. I've loved being able to serve my Heavenly
Father & bear testimony of His Son, Jesus Christ, every single day.
I've learned that true happiness is when we are in the service of
others. One of my favorite quotes comes from True to the Faith that
says, "The Savior invites you to give of yourself in the service of
others. Your opportunities to do so are limitless. Each day, look for
ways to gladden hearts, to say kind words, to perform labors for
others that they cannot do for themselves, to share the gospel. Be
receptive to the whispering of the Spirit, prompting you to serve.
You will find that the true key to happiness is to labor for the
happiness of others."

All I can say is how grateful I am to have had this privilege of
serving a mission! Thank you so much to every one of you who have
helped me along the way. I'm very blessed for the best family &
friends in the world! Can't wait to see you all!!!❤️❤️❤️

I love you all. CTR!!!

For the last time,
Sister Sobotka

Weekly Email - August 1st - Not Trunky

Hi Family & Friends,

Well I've officially been on a mission for 18 months. What in the world!!

Last Tuesday all the departing missionaries got to go to the temple.
Usually the departing missionaries go to a session the day before they
return home, but the Sacramento Temple is going to be closed for the
first two weeks in August so our group got to go this week. It was
definitely one of the most spiritual experiences of my mission. I sat
in the celestial room & just thought of the lessons I've learned over
the last 18 months & the experiences I've had. It was just a great day
& I am just so full of gratitude for my mission. I sat in the
celestial room with my MTC companion, Sister Marks & we just teared up
thinking back to 18 months ago when we entered the MTC together. I'm
just grateful for the friendships I've made here in Sacramento & how
it will always have a special place in my heart. After the temple we
went to the spaghetti factory with President & Sister Jardine. Ah I'm
just gonna miss this mission family so much.

After lunch & I had my departing interview with President Jardine. I
just love that man. Before the interview I thought, "I don't think
I'll cry during this" & the first thing President Jardine asked me
was, "how are you feeling right now?" & wow I just started crying &
told him how grateful I was for my mission. Then he gave me the whole
marriage spiel & talked about her future. Ah what?!

The rest of the week was really good. Okay so the Folsom stereo type
is that there is "no work" because everyone is rich & set in their
ways. I've spent quite sometime in Folsom & have heard this a billion
times haha but yeah i just ignore it usually haha. But last night we
got the biggest miracle call. We had a lady from another Ward call us
& tell us her best friend is ready to take the lessons! She said she
has taken the lessons before from the Elders, but that the elders
weren't very considerate so she's been waiting for months to be able
to be taught by sisters!! Sister Adam & I were so excited we started
to tear up. She gave us her number & she was so excited!!! She asked
if we could come for dinner this week. Her name is Sarah & we will be
going over this week!

I've just learned that when you're doing your best the Lord takes care
of the rest. Last year we had zone conference from Elder Hamula of the
70 & he said multiple times, "pray like everything depends on God, &
work as if everything depends on you" & I've seen that to be very
true! If we pray & truly rely on our Heavenly Father, but then go out
there & work Heavenly Father will bless us for our efforts, but we
always gotta put in that work.

Thank you for all the loving emails this week!!! I'm so excited to see
all of you❤️❤️❤️
Keep choosing the right & take the time to study your scriptures!

Love always,
Sister Sobotka

Pics:
1. Throw back to Sis Marks & I in the MTC 😂
2. Sis Marks & I's last temple trip:(
3. The Folsom Zone
4. The cute sisters I go home with
5. Our departing group!

Weekly Email - July 25th - Mouse in the House of the Lord!

Hey everybody!

I've had several moments this week where we will be in the middle of
teaching a lesson & I just start to tear up about how sad I am that
this is almost over. I absolutely love my mission with all of my heart
& I can't even explain how much I've learned or how much this
experience means to me.

Anyway, I'll talk about the funny stuff that happened first! So
yesterday at church sacrament meeting had just started, but a mouse
ran through the chapel & everyone freaked out!! (Including me) Hahaha
so some men of the Ward started chasing it around, but they could not
grab it. So we kinda put the whole meeting on pause to try & catch the
mouse, haha it ran out into the foyer into the couch! So 2 men picked
up the couch & carried it outside Hahahah. So yeah that was crazy!

So we started teaching that couple that came to church last week! &
they are just so sincere & so ready to learn! We had an incredible
lesson with them & Melody asked me if I was homesick & ready to go
home & I just started to cry telling her how much I'm gonna miss this.
How amazing it's been!! Ah so grateful to be out here.

Grateful for Pioneer Day & man every time I think of the pioneers I'm
just amazed at the sacrifices they went through. We sang "Come Come Ye
saints" yesterday at church & the line "& if we die, before our
journeys through, all is well" has always just amazed me!! These
people put all their trust & hope in the Lord & are such heroes to me!

Anyway keepin it short this week 😘
Hope you all choose the right & are enjoying your summer! Hope the
family has so much fun at the Spanish Fork rodeo!!! Take some cute
pics for me:)
Sorry this email is all over the place!!

Love always,
Sis Sobotka

Weekly email -July 5th - I'm going going, back back to Folsom Folsom

Well I'm officially starting my final transfer! 13th transfer, 14th
companion & 6th area. Seriously my mission has been so crazy!! But I
wouldn't have it any other way.

I can't even explain how happy I am to be finishing my mission in
Folsom! Last week we got the call that Sis Lillie would be training in
Rescue & at first I was so sad, because I love it here. But then later
in the week I got the call that I'm white-washing/shot gunning
(whatever you kids call it now a days) 2 wards in Folsom that have had
elders forever! & I'll be able to see my fav members from el dorado
hills!!! My new companion is Sis Adam. She's from St George & she's so
sweet! She's so kind & im just loving life. So yeah Heavenly Father
loves His children. Still super sad I won't be able to teach Jana
anymore, but she's so solid for baptism so it's aight.

I have so much to write about this week & I'll do my best to
summarize. I only have 5 more weekly emails so they gotta be good. ;)

K first of all, we had the most amazing lesson with the part member
family I talked about a few months ago (The Linns) he's a member-grew
up in the church, his family is all active but he isn't. Sad. & his
wife isn't a member! Anyway we talked to them all about The Book of
Mormon & just testified with all our hearts. & they said they would
both read it & they were so excited! The spirit was just so strong &
it was one of the most powerful lessons I've been in.

Okay also this we had this way cool experience at the temple. There's
a recent convert in our Ward named Jacob, who got baptized about 3
months ago & he was able to take his dad's name to the temple & be
baptized for him! It was such a cool spirit there. Temples are such a
blessing & it made me realize how grateful I was that I live so close
to one & was able to do baptisms for the dead growing up. Never take
that for granted!!

Anyway I hope you all had an awesome 4th. Oh I got to celebrate Canada
Day because I had a Canadian companion! We had this stuff called
"Poutine" for dinner which is basically French fries with gravy &
cheese? Haha it was cool. But I am just so grateful for America & this
beautiful country we live in! We are soooo blessed! I would rant more
about my love for America, but this is already long! So yeah God Bless
America. I'm proud to be an American! Keep on keeping on! Read your
scriptures, say your prayers & CTR❤️💙

Love always,
Sis Sobotka

Weekly Email - June 27th - The Gathering of Israel

Hey everyone!

So this email is gonna be short...


Well last Tuesday we had zone conference with Elder Lawrence from the
70 (he gave the famous talk "what lack I yet" in General conference) &
his sweet wife. She spoke to us first for a few hours & on this deep
doctrine stuff like the gathering of Israel & the Gentiles & basically
my mind was just blown to all this doctrine I never understood haha.
It was really cool! He spoke to us about sacrifice & it was amazing.
It was my last zone conference so that was sad, but apparently our
mission is just doing really well! It's way cool to see the changes in
the mission over these past months:)

We had a super cool experience on Saturday night, we pulled up at the
gas station & this guy came up to us & asked us if our car broke down,
lol we told him no. But invited him to church & he totally came
yesterday!! So yeah that was such a cool miracle. Hopefully we will
teach him this week!

Anyway this email is kinda lame! Hope you all choose the right & read
your scriptures this week!!

Love always,
Sis Sobotka

This is the scariest picture on my family history line Hahahah
Our Ward mission leader (bro Bair & his sons washed our car for zone conf)

Weekly Email - June 20th - Happy Fathers Day

Hello Everyone!

Huge shout out to my trainer Sister Lavea for getting engaged this
week!!!! So excited for you:)

Happy late Father's Day to all you dads out there. Yesterday I had
time to reflect on the important role of fathers & how grateful I am
for my dad & his incredible example to me & my family. Elder L. Tom
Perry said, “Fatherhood is leadership, the most important kind of
leadership. It has always been so; it always will be so. Father, with
the assistance and counsel and encouragement of your eternal
companion, you preside in the home. It is not a matter of whether you
are most worthy or best qualified, but it is a matter of [divine]
appointment.”

This week has been so good. Jana is so solid. She's reading her Book
of Mormon faithfully. She is in 2 Nephi now & is just loving every
word. She made it to church again yesterday & is so excited to tell
everyone about her decision to be baptized! Yesterday in Sunday school
the lesson was all about baptism & members of the Ward were telling
their experiences of when they were baptized & Jana commented & said,
"I am so excited I can't wait!" Her husband is even starting to read
the Book of Mormon with her!!! It's so cool that through her example
she is bringing her less husband back slowly, but surely:) it has been
such a tender mercy from Heavenly Father to be able to teach her for
the last few months of my mission. I am learning so much from her!

This week we had dinner at the cutest family's house. So we started
talking to them about where they were from & all that getting to know
you stuff, they are this younger couple, & the wife said "oh I'm from
highland Utah" & I was like "what!! Same with me?" & then she asked me
what highschool I went to & I told her American fork, then she said
she went there too!! She graduated 3 years before me. Then I asked her
what stake she was in & said she wasn't active while she was growing
up. Then I asked her about how she became active again, because her &
her husband are both super active & are sealed in the temple now. So
her husband grew up here in Rescue, but went less active in highschool
& ended up getting a girl pregnant & was just partying hard core. He
moved to Florida right after highschool & got into some crazy stuff &
ended up in the hospital. He said while he was in the hospital he
realized how unhappy he was. He said he thought of his parents & how
happy they were & he knew it was because of the gospel. While he was
in the hospital in Florida he called the missionaries there to come
give him a blessing, & then he started meeting with them & moved back
to California & worked hard to turn his life around, then he went to
UVU & met his wife now. He brought her back into the church! I asked
the wife if she has seen a big difference since she has come back to
church & she just started to tear up talking saying how much the
gospel has blessed her. I asked her if her family is active & she said
they weren't & then she said, "I just wish my mom could live my life
for one day & see how happy I am" & that just really hit me. How this
cute couple was able to fully use the Atonement to change their entire
lives! I thought of the quote by President Hunter that says, "Any time
we experience the blessings of the Atonement in our lives, we cannot
help but have a concern for the welfare of others. … A great indicator
of one’s personal conversion is the desire to share the gospel with
others."
How we can all change through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, & when we
do have that change our desire to share the gospel with others
increases. This family was just a perfect example to me & their story
really touched me.

I am just so grateful for the people I've met here & the lessons I've
learned from them. I can't believe how fast time is flying!! Tomorrow
we have zone conference with Elder Lawrence from the quorum of the 70
so that should be pretty good. I'm excited. Well I hope you all have a
lovely week & remember to be using the Atonement daily. Jesus Christ
has given His life for us to use that strengthening, healing power of
the Atonement. So I hope you're all using it to become better people:)
& are looking for opportunities to share it with others.

I love you all! Have a great week. CTR❤️

Love always,
Sister Sobotka

Oh ps I learned how to us a lasso this week hahaha! Seriously people
here are legit Cowboys. (Sorry videos wont attach)

Weekly Email - June 13th - For the Family is of God

Hey family & friends,

This week has been such a crazy one. So my sweet companion Sister
Morales headed home today. It was a huge shock to me & her. But it was
where the Lord needed her right now. I'm going to miss her so much!
She is such a sweet heart & I learned so much from her in these 3
short weeks. She's is literally one of the strongest most humble
people I've ever met. I'm really going to miss her.

This past Saturday we were able to take our cute investigator, Jana,
on a temple tour! She loved it!! She is so excited for her baptism.
Jana is married to a less active member, but he isn't really involved
with the church right now & im just blown away at how prepared Jana
is! She is waking up by herself for 8:30 church & reading her
scriptures & is just such an incredible example to me. There are some
strong people in this world! I'm also just so grateful that we have
temples on this earth. During the temple tour they talked about the
restoration of the gospel & how blessed we are to have that priesthood
power on the earth so we can be sealed to our families. During the
temple tour you watch a short video of Elder Holland speaking about
his family, he said (me some what paraphrasing), "I can't imagine
heaven without my family. That would not be heaven for me" & I've been
thinking about that all weekend. How much I love my family & how
incredible it is that we are able to be with each other forever.
Preach my gospel says, "the family is the most important social unit
in time & eternity" I love the concept of families & how Heavenly
Father has placed us into these units to help each other learn & grow.
Like the primary song says, "God gave us families, to help us become
what he wants us to be." One of the very first things we teach as
missionaries is, "the gospel blessed families" & that is my favorite
thing to share with people because I've seen how much the gospel has
blessed my family & that's why I decided to come on a mission to help
others have those same blessings. I have such a strong testimony that
our families can be together forever because of our loving Savior
Jesus Christ.

My new companions name is Sister Lillie! She's from Canada & has been
out for about 8 months. She was trained by Sis Hickman. So I'm excited
to work with for at least these next 3 weeks of the transfer. She's my
13th companion. Hahaha seriously the Lord knows I need to learn a lot
from a lot of different companions I guess!

Also, huge happy 16th birthday shout out to McKay!!!! Don't follow
taylors example of how to drive;) hehe love you.

I hope you all have a wonderful week & give your families big hugs &
realize how blessed you are to have a family! CTR!

Love always,
Sister Sobotka