Ahahahahahaha what even is this.
Well, let me tell you some eventful things that have happened and then I'm going to dramatically word vomit on you. You're welcome.
-We had possibly the best DDM I've ever had on my whole mission on Tuesday. Which is great because it was my last real DDM. Elder E asked us to come prepared to share a time when the Savior has helped us. It was really cool to hear people share and to be able to testify myself. The Spirit was really powerful.
-We saw this lady Sister A this week. She is wheelchair bound because she was attacked by a guy who hit her on the head with a shovel a while ago and she has traumatic brain injury and is partially paralyzed on her left side. She made us pizza and it was the sweetest. She is lonely and feels pretty useless so it was wonderful to be able to be with her and cheer her up and thank her for all the good she does. Which is a lot! She's the ward compassionate service director and she does so good coordinating that and helping people.
-I finished My Plan!!!
-We had a yoga class this week and that was the funnest. The instructor, Sister H, has encouraged me to get my yoga teaching license or whatever. and also to eat healthier. :)
-We dropped in on a cute family in our ward this week, the Jolleys. They are adorable. They have a 3 year old who is nutso crazy and 3 year olds who are nutso crazy happen to be my favorite kind of people. It's like being around a tiny drunk person. SO funny.
-Yesterday was a traumatic day. First, the bishop called me up on the fly to bear my testimony and I TOTALLY CRIED IN FRONT OF THE WHOLE WARD. That was a great time. Then, in gospel principles, one of the returning less actives looked like he was in pain and clutching his heart. Both Sister Ekberg and I felt like we should ask him if he was okay. When he stood up after the prayer, he walked a couple steps and then collapsed. He was taken away by ambulance about 2 minutes later. He's fine now!! But that was a wild time. Then later that night, we were called in to solve a relationship issue. We sat there and watched a couple yell at each other for like 20 minutes. *sigh* I'm never getting married.
-We sticky note attacked the zone leaders and that was fun. Also it's been raining nonstop.
-We had my first and most likely only emergency exchange with the YSA sisters so we could help them with their area 'cause it's struggling.
-It's been a hard road saying goodbye to everyone. My heart is in two places!!
-My cute mommy sent us a really awesome package with really awesome gifts for my really awesome recent converts and they loved them. Also she sent N a picture of Jesus which she loved. Also, N and the ASL class are throwing me two separate goodbye parties which is adorable.
-I am enjoying talking to everyone. I hope I still do that when I get back ;)
-I have finally started packing... also I love not freaking out about transfer news.
-We met this guy M when we were just walking around outside on a nice day a couple weeks back. He was listening to very offensive music with his two buddies who fled when we approached. We left him with a Book of Mormon. Earlier this week he said he'd been reading it and he loves it. So of course we've been talking to him some more. He said he wants to read with us but we're a little sketched out by him so we're going to bring some buddies...maybe elders? Hahahaha.
-We basically got fed every day this week because the members in South Carolina are wonderful.
-Had an awesome lesson with A and the P family. We talked about the gospel of Jesus Christ. A is really taking wing and it's so cool to see. Also the Ps are the greatest.
-K bore her testimony of the RESTORATION to us in her lesson with us on Saturday. She said she found a scripture in the Bible that testifies of the apostasy and she loves the idea that God will always reach out to us to restore truth. It was so cool to see her take something that is specific to this church, which are the things she has struggled with her whole teaching journey, and see it for what it means for her and stuff. So that was a huge payoff moment as a missionary.
I think that's all...
Well, folks. This is it.
This is my last email from South Carolina.
It's weird. It's surreal. I feel almost like I've been lead to the edge of a cliff. Or like I'm about to jump out of an airplane. But I know I need to let myself fall.
These past months feel like a rollercoaster ride. I have learned enough to fill several books. Including but not limited to, the correct grammatical usage of the word "y'all", where sweet tea originated from, which skirts work well while biking, whether or not you should knock the door with 18 dogs perched outside it, what the voice of the Spirit sounds like, how to tick off a companion/how to make a companion happy, how to resolve concerns and differences, how to make friends, the proper way to make a barbecue sauce, who Francis Marion is, what it feels like to look across the Atlantic ocean, what it means to be saved, what we mean when we talk about the Atonement, and who the Savior is to me.
I have given it everything I have. I occasionally have more to give on some days than I do on other days, but the important thing is that I never gave up. Not one single day. I was fighting against substantial fears and worries and doubts, and there were definite times when I felt like I was drowning. But the Lord pulled me through.
I can't even explain to you how much I will miss it here. I will miss the insane amount of green everywhere. I will miss the people calling you baby, honey and sugar and blessing your heart when you tell them how far you are away from home and why you're in South Carolina anyway. I will miss biking on sandy roads, the red dirt, and the humidity. I will miss slapping away mosquitos and asking little kids how old they are, and I'll miss hearing their responses (which usually end in the word 'ma'am'). I will miss the long, stretching, squiggling roads (But I won't miss the drivers!) I'll miss late night calls from investigators, and I'll miss hearing people say, "y'all have no idea how much it means to me that y'all are doing what you're doing." I'll miss the old people who tell you all their business that you never wanted to hear. I'll miss scratching my eyes constantly because everyone has 25 cats. I'll miss people who let you in just to feed you, people who let you in only to listen once, and people who listen enough to let the Holy Ghost in, too. I'll miss the colors and the hills in the upstate. I'll miss the farm smell, the log cabin feel, the peach trees everywhere. I'll miss the dogs that bark at you from behind closed doors or wire fences or even just loose across the street...kinda. I'll miss the sleepy, quiet little towns that seem to be on the border of everything, and I'll miss hearing the mining stories and farming stories and pretty much every other kind of redneck story you can think of. I'll miss Charleston, alive with people and the colors of the market. I'll miss the humidity (really) and the sea breeze and how friendly everyone is. I'll miss the power and Spirit that fills the room when you tell someone about the First Vision for the first time. It never gets old. I'll miss the summer rain and the people I love so much - be they lifelong, stalwart members or the newest convert or not a member at all or anywhere in between. I will just simply miss it so much.
But in the words of Bilbo Baggins, "I want to see mountains again, Gandalf! Mountains!"
And speaking of movies and movie quotes, let me share something else I've had on my mind off and on since Christmas. It's got to do with my subject line.
On Christmas we watched Moana as a mission. There's this one part where Moana is really discouraged and so her dead grandmother pays her a visit. In that visit, her grandmother asks her, "do you know who you are?" In a scene as powerful as any I have seen in any movie ever, Moana recalls the history of her people and the journey she's been on, all leading up to her declaration of who she is and what she has the power to do. In the middle of this song she says (sings, really) a line that slapped me in the face the first time I heard it and has continued to slap me in the face every time I think about it.
She says, "And the call isn't out there at all, it's inside me."
And that is entirely correct. A mission call, a call to serve, isn't out there in the world. It isn't a call to go somewhere special - it's not a call to South Carolina, or a call to Mexico, or a call to Texas, or a call to Finland, or a call to Argentina. It's not for 18 months or 2 years. It's inside of you. It follows you wherever you go. And it's who you are.
Think of that. Because of who you are, you have the power to do whatever God has asked of you. You have a call inside you. What will you say to that call?
I'm winding down. The most important thing I can share with you here at the end of this crazy, wonderful, beautiful journey in South Carolina is the testimony that I have gained of the great Atoning Sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
I have come a long way since I left. And really the only thing that I did is decide that I was all in, and I was gonna let Jesus Christ take what I could give and make it enough. That's all it took. And Jesus Christ stepped in and helped me become a person that I wouldn't have ever known how to be without Him. It's someone I can be proud of, which is a miracle.
He really lives. He really suffered and died for you. Individually. He knows what your paper cuts and broken bones feels like. He knows your losses and your failures and your flaws. He sees all of it and He loves you -- because of, in spite of, all those things. He understands what's going on in your head, even when you don't. And He can give you strength where you thought you were hopelessly spent.
Please let Him take what you have and make it enough. You have so much to give and so much you can do with His help. My hope as a missionary and a representative of Jesus Christ is that we as saints and friends and family can change this world and bring people closer to Him.
I love you! Thank y'all, ALL y'all, for the prayers, the support, the help, the love, the letters, the packages, the worry, the blessings, and especially for the gift of your friendship. I seriously am so grateful God sent me the best people to fill my life with happy :)
If I am coming home to you on Friday but you're not in my family, which means all my Utah friends and family and if any of my South Carolina friends and family will happen to be in Utah at the time:
My family will be hosting an OPEN HOUSE for me on Monday, June 4th at 7:30 PM until we all die. Everyone is welcome. Even if you feel like we're not that close, we are. We are that close. Come see me. I would looooove to see you. And word vomit about my mission on you. 
NO BUT REALLY YOU SHOULD ALL COME. IN REAL LIFE. It will be a great time. Promise.
I will be giving my Homecoming talk on Father's Day. Which I realize might be a little bit of a struggle for some of you to make it. But hey, I'd love for y'all to bring your dads because I love dads. Dads are the best. BYOD? Bring your own dad? But anyways, yeah, it's at 1pm on June 17th. The building address is 4580 West Cedar Hills Drive, Cedar Hills, Utah. Seriously, if you can come and bring your dads, I'd love to see you.
Okay, okay, I think I'm actually done.
Remember, I love you forever.
And, as always, and until we meet again,
Don't let the muggles get you down!
love,
Sister Emily Ruth Pew
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