December 24, 2012 letter

Merry Christmas!

The reason we aren't Skyping is the First Presidency has asked us not to. We are just following the prophet! :)

I know we get to talk tomorrow so I won't send a long letter, but there are a few things I wanted to share.

I am so excited to be a representative of the Lord at this very special time. Thankfully, I am feeling so much better about things than I have in the past. I feel like I have received the boost that I needed to continue on in this service. I know that Heavenly Father is patient with me as well. I am so thankful for the love that I feel from those around me.

I wanted to share with you neat experiences I have had the past couple of days. Saturday night as I was praying I decided to start a fast. I prayed for forgiveness for not talking to everyone that has come into our path. I prayed that we would be able to talk to those that we had missed. I felt really good about it. Then Sunday at church, a family brought their friend to church since most of the family was singing in the program. Well, I recognized her as someone that had been at the ward Christmas party a couple of weeks ago that we were unable to talk to. It was an amazing answer to my prayers. We were unable to talk to her at sacrament meeting, but we are having dinner with that family tonight (tacos! I am so excited. His parents are the Gauthier's down in Victoria so it is nice to have a familiar family to spend the holiday with.) so I am hopeful she will be there.

This morning I had another cool experience. As I was saying my morning prayer this morning I felt impressed to say a prayer of gratitude. That is all I expressed, my thanks for everything the Lord has blessed me with. You, my family, was the majority of that prayer. Expressing my gratitude for you all was amazing. After I was done praying I felt better than I have in a long time! It was amazing the feeling of being lifted! I am so very grateful for this opportunity I have to be a missionary in the Canada Vancouver Mission and I am so VERY grateful for all that President and Sister Tilleman do for me.

I am so very thankful for Sister Nuttall. She is an amazing companion and I am learning so much from her. She is a great teacher and so patient with me. I know that she is guided by the spirit in basically all she does. I am grateful for her friendship and for her kindness and guidance.

Mostly, I am grateful for my Savior. I am thankful for all that He has done for me, now does for me, and will continue to do for me. I feel of His love for me all the time. Everywhere I look I can see proof of the existence of God. I know that He is there for me. I know that He loves each of His children. I am grateful for the birth of Christ, for His life, and for His atoning sacrifice. I know that He died for me, a sinner. I know that He was resurrected after 3 days so we can all be resurrected. I am thankful he broke the bands of death that we may live again with our families.

Best News EVER!: "And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.
And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger."

MERRY CHRISTMAS!
The church is true!
Love you all and I will talk to you tomorrow.

love,
Sister Saal

December 17, 2012 letter

Hello family (and friends)!

I am so excited to inform you, we have snow outside! Sure it is gross, wet, heavy snow. But, it is snow none the less. I LOVE IT! We walked in it this morning to go and get our car. Our little Chevy Cruise couldn't make it up the hill to our apartment. We walked down at about 6:30 and enjoyed the snow that was covering everything!

So, Sister Tilleman may call, but.... I was in the ER twice this week. Just my luck hey? We thought it was appendicitis, which would have been funny since Megan just got hers out, but thankfully it was not. We went on Wednesday night and they did some blood work. Basically they said that if it got worse to come back. The meds they put me on got me pretty loopy. Sister Nuttall was good to put up with me. Then it got worse and in less than 24 hours, we were back. It was funny because it was the same doctor that welcomed me back. Basically, I have been sick this whole week. Friday and Saturday I slept for 40 out of the 48 hour period. Ha ha.

I am looking forward to talking to you all next week. Things may be a little crazy with transfers, but it will all work out.

Love you all.
Sorry this week is boring!

Sister Saal

December 10, 2012 letter

Hello family (and friends)!

Thanks for keeping me up to date on life back home. I love hearing about all that is happening to you. Sounds like you are getting ready for a week full of chaos with the grand babies coming up. Give them a hug and a kiss for me. Tell them I love them. They better be there when I call home. I want to hear their little voices. :)

Things here in Courtenay are well. I made another trip to the doctor. I think I will have to get things checked out when I get home. My inner ear is full of liquid and I have "floaters" in my eyes. Sweet hey? Anyway, now that the dizziness is gone, things are going well.

Our investigators are progressing well. I am thankful and blessed to be a part of their lives. I know that things will work out how they should. :)

One cool experience I would like to share. You all get to see my inner most thoughts at the moment. :) There is one thing I have really been working on the past few weeks. One thing I have been praying a lot about, is to see myself the way others, especially our Father in Heaven, sees me. I know that too often we are way to hard on ourselves, and I know I am not the only one. A lot of people tell me I am a great missionary, not to boast or anything :), but sometimes I don't see myself as a great missionary. I pick out the things I did wrong instead of rejoicing on the things that went well. Life is a test and we are here to learn and to grow. I know that as I change this thinking now, it will be easier when I have a future family.

I am so very grateful for this time that I have to be serving the Lord right now. I am thankful for the trials I am going through, though I don't always believe that it will end! I am thankful for this time of the year that I have to be sharing our Savior's love with those around us. We had dinner with a member last night and her non-member husband was there. We started into our message and said, "With Christmas coming, we wanted to talk about Jesus Christ," He piped in with a smile "When do you not talk about Christ?" TRUE! I love it!

I love you all.
Have an excellent time with the kids!

Love,
Sister Saal

December 3, 2012 letter

Hello my wonderful family (and friends)!

Happy December to you all. I hope that you are staying warm down there. I am trying to up here. It usually is about 3 degrees (Celsius) and rains basically every day. The humidity is bad so it feels like it is in the negatives. However, I am loving the island.

Did you get to see the Christmas Devotional last night? I loved it so much! It was really good. We had a friend come and she loved it. I will talk about her a little bit later. I am so excited for the Christmas season! He truly is the reason for the season!

I have a wonderful experience I want to share with you all. Yesterday when Sister Nuttall and I were doing our personal studies I was thinking about my life and how things are going for me. I know that things have been difficult and obviously a little down, missions can do that and I am not the only one :). I feel like I am on a super giant roller coaster. Things have been up and down and I don't feel like I am in control of my emotions. They seem to just be everywhere all the time. Well, in my studies yesterday I was thinking about one of my favorite hymns, I Believe in Christ, and one line just played over and over in my head. "And while I strive through grief and pain, His voice is heard: Ye shall obtain. I believe in Christ, so come what may" It hit me like a ton of bricks. So come what may! Who would have thought 4 words would have such power on me. I know that this is how my attitude should be. So come what may! I thought it was amazing. Then my thoughts went to who I want to be. I realized that I am a flawed mortal. I am imperfect. But, I know that "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me" Philippians 4:13. I just loved the feeling I had yesterday. I know that things will turn out how they should. I know that Heavenly Father is in charge of everything.

We have had some pretty mighty miracles this week.

One in particular: She is super funny and really amazing. She is teaching us how to make candles and soap. She expects us to take this art down to Utah to share with everyone. Oh man, I love her so much. She is such a special woman to me. She is so dear to my heart. We had a lesson with her on Friday. We were able to teach her the Restoration and we had a member there, which is really good. We were only planning on doing the first half, but we decided to do the whole thing. I had the sacred opportunity to share with her the First Vision of Joseph Smith. It was amazing! We invited her to read and pray about the Book of Mormon and she told us she already knew it was true! We asked her to pray about Joseph Smith, and she told us she knew he is a prophet of God, just from hearing the First Vision. The spirit was so strong there! I had the opportunity to invite her to follow Jesus Christ into the waters of baptism. With a smile on her face, she said yes! Since she just had surgery she wont be able to get into the water until after the new year. We set her date for January 15th and she is so excited! Truly, it is a miracle. I feel so humble to be in her life and help her receive this saving ordinance. She is worried that Sister Nuttall or I will be transferred in December. I am a little worried about that as well. I really want to be there for her baptism, but I told her I would come up when she goes through the temple. We will be friends for life.

We also had the chance to go Christmas caroling on Tuesday night with the Relief Society at an old folks home! it was so great. I loved it. I want to do it again next year. Who is with me?

Our bishop shared the words to the Christmas Shoes song in his talk last Sunday. It made me smile a little and think of you papa! (Mark really does not like that song at all!)

I love you all so much! Thank you for all your love and support and prayers! You are the best people in the world!

Love,
Sister Saal

November 26, 2012 letter

Hello family (and friends)!

Glad things are going well for all of you at home. I am excited to see the new home we have. Apparently it is good. (Mark and I are STILL working on our remodeling - it's getting close.)

We have had a pretty good week. We didn't have turkey and all on Thanksgiving, but that is okay. Saturday, Sister Nuttall and I cooked a turkey we had in our freezer. We made gravy and instant mashed potatoes. Besides the potatoes, it was all really good. We both had our hand at cooking a turkey for the first time. Turned out pretty good if I do say so myself. I had a turn at carving the turkey. I think I will let men keep that job. We are in turkey heaven though!

We have had a lot of cool experiences this week. Our friends are coming along very nicely. One of our friends committed to live the Word of Wisdom. She had major surgery 8 weeks ago and is still recovering. We have been helping her in her workshop. She makes soap and candles! She let us make a candle known as a funky. Basically what it is is a bunch of random things inside wax. I don't know how to explain it but I will send a picture as soon as I can.

Three of our other friends are also coming along great. One has been cutting down on coffee and cigarettes. It has been great to see the transformation take place. I have been meeting with them since I first got here. It is incredible to see the difference and the changes that are going on in their lives. I think it is amazing how well and how much the spirit works on people.

I had the opportunity to teach our investigator class at church yesterday. I taught about the sacrament and read in 3 Nephi 18. We ended on the subject of how Jesus Christ is our rock. We turned to the story in Matthew Chapter 14 about Peter walking on the water. It is one of my favorite stories. We talked about how Christ immediately reached out for Peter when he cried "Lord save me". He didn't make Peter struggle for a minute for looking at the waves instead of Him, nor did he make Peter swim to the boat by himself. When Peter called out, Jesus Christ was there with open arms. Peter still had to grab hold, but Christ was there. That is how He is with each of us. Sometimes we feel like we have sunk ourselves into something that no one can save us from, but we need to always remember that Jesus Christ is there with open arms. HE WILL NOT LET US SINK.

I love you family. Have a great week. Less than a month till Christmas. :)

Sister Saal   

November 19, 2012 letter

Happy Thanksgiving Turkeys!

We have already had our Thanksgiving up here. Members are feeding us, but I am not sure if they realize that Thursday is also Thanksgiving. I hope so. I am craving some mashed potatoes and gravy. Dad, you may have to eat some for me.

Things seem to be going good there in Utah. Oh how I miss the snow. It rains here. And rains. And rains. Oh, and did I mention it rains? The wind blows. Last night the members we had dinner with told us that the winds were up to 90km. Not as bad as last December, but still pretty legit.

The work is going well. We have some people that we have had to put in the reflecting pool. They just aren't keeping commitments. We have a lot of amazing people that we are teaching though. I am going to briefly talk about two.

One is an amazing woman with great faith. She loves us so much and she came to church twice and felt the spirit so strongly. Then she had major surgery and is still recovering. We went over there Saturday to help her in the workshop. She makes soaps and candles. She is going to teach us. Anyway, we talked while we worked and things were great.

Another family is so great. We are working on helping them get married. It is amazing to see that we have shared with them the Word of Wisdom. He is now trying to substitute hot chocolate for coffee.

It is amazing to see the Lord working with so many people. He is blessing peoples lives and I love seeing it.

Sorry it is short.
Love you family (and friends)!
Eat lots! and enjoy.

Sister Saal.

November 13, 2012 letter

Preface:  Mark emails Sister Saal every Sunday night so that she will have a letter from us on her Monday p-day.  Just as he sat down to write her, we received a phone call from Sister Tilleman, the wife of Caitlin's mission president.  We talked to her for about 15 minutes and she had nothing but good to say about our daughter.  We were so grateful to hear those words from Sister Tilleman and have a peak into Sister Saal's missionary life. 

Hello family (and friends),

I am staying in Courtenay.
Thank you for your letter. I am glad you were able to talk to Sister Tilleman. They are amazing people and I am thankful for all their love and support.

An interesting thing happened on Sunday. In Relief Society the teacher asked us to take a moment to think about something. She asked us to think about our Father in Heaven. She asked us to think about what He would say to us if we were with Him right now. She asked us to think about the things He would do. At first it made me a little nervous. What would He say to me? I thought about the mistakes that I have made. I thought about all of my sins. I thought about my faults and weaknesses. At first, I thought about all the things I would have pointed out. And then I remembered His character. I remembered His nature. I remember His love. He wouldn't point out the flaws I have. He wouldn't make me feel small. He would love me with a perfect love. He would love me with a love I can't even begin to comprehend. At that moment, I saw all my weaknesses. But even more than that, I saw how God really feels about me. It was an overwhelming feeling that passes through me.

I have such a short time left and it is just speeding up. I am over half way done. It feels like just yesterday I was eating at Cafe Rio right before heading into the MTC. This feeling is crazy. By the end of this transfer, I will have spent 6 months in Courtenay. Seems like yesterday I got here.

One really big highlight comes from an act of service. There is a less active brother here that we have been trying to work with. His wife is not a member and so amazing! I have really grown to love this family. Sister Nuttall asked her if we could come visit them and get to know them. She said she would feed us dinner! We set up a time and asked if there was anything we could do. They have a few giant maple trees in their backyard with HUGE maple leaves. She said she would call us to help her rake. The next day we decided just to do it. It took about an hour to rake all the leaves into a pile. I will have to send pictures, it was a huge pile. The next day we came back to start putting the leaves in bags. After an hour, and 26 giant black plastic bags later someone told us the city wouldn't take them. We were going to have to use giant paper bags. They are really ecologically friendly up here. Well, we had an appointment to get to and had to leave. The next morning during companionship study we received a phone call from the wife. She was amazed at what we had done. We told her about the bags and said we wanted to come finish. She invited us over for lunch and we were able to work with this family to rake leaves. It took a long time, but it was so fun to get to know them. I know that we were not just raking leaves and doing service, but we are building a relationship.

I am thankful for your prayers. Keep them coming. I love you all so much. Thank you!

Love, Sister Saal

November 5, 2012 letter

Hey family (and friends)!

Things are going pretty good here. I am still in Courtenay, though another transfer is upon us. We find out tonight if we stay together or if one of us leaves. Who knows, I could be in Vanderhoof by the next email you receive. That would be fun for the winter! Not.

The weather here is pretty nice, too. We have been getting a bit of rain, but the sun is out today. It is funny. I almost forgot what the sun looks and feels like. :)

We have been visiting a lot of cool people. Our friend with a baptismal date is doing well. We just really need to get her married. Hopefully that will come soon. Our bishop said he would be more than happy to do it for them. Now, we just have to get the fiance on board. He wants to wait so he can give her a big party.

We have a few new friends that we have been teaching. They are so great and doing really well. We have also had the chance to work with a lot of less active members. One has been coming faithfully for the past 3 weeks. It is great to see the Lord truly working with people.

Sorry I don't have much to say this week. Hopefully next week I will have a little more of an update.

The church is true! I hope you all know that. It is so true. I have seen too many miracles to deny the truth.

Work hard. Pray. Read. Love you.

Read 2 Timothy 1:7

Love, Sister Saal

October 29, 2012 letter

Happy Halloween! Though we don't celebrate Halloween as missionaries. We actually have to come in at 6. I guess there is a lot of interesting things that can happen on Halloween. Hopefully kids don't come trick-or-treating to our place. We have no candy for them!

Didn't feel the earthquake. We didn't even know about it till the next day at church. Crazy. We have missionaries serving there. They are all doing fine. There were no deaths of injuries. The Lord is protecting His missionaries since it was the 3rd largest earthquake recorded in Canada's history. 

We had our primary program yesterday and I loved it. There is a less active that we have been working with a lot. She came to church and her two girls were in the program. It brought tears to her eyes as well as mine. The primary program is probably my favorite program they do. I love those kids that sing loud and proud.

We have had many, many miracles happen this week. We were doing our companionship study when we got a phone call from a less active/part member family we were going to meet with that morning. She called to tell us she was sick and would be unable to meet with us. We were thinking about changing our points for the day, however, we left without doing so. We dropped by a young girl we tracted into a few nights before. It was dark when we were tracting so I didn't see the NO TRESPASSING signs. That made me a little nervous when I saw them in the daylight. We knocked on the door and an older gentleman opened the door. I don't think he was grumpy, he just wanted us to get to the point. We told him who we were and asked if she was there. He said he would go get her. They let us in. It was a miracle. He told us that he was a baptized member that must have just gotten lost in the shuffle. His records aren't here. We taught her, and with past experiences, she wants to follow Jesus Christ. She became a new investigator and we gave her a Book of Mormon to read. She was handling it so carefully. It was humbling to see.

Then, later that day we went to the hospital to see a referral that was given to us by a member. She let us come into her room to share a message. There was a man there with her, possibly a husband or boyfriend. He told us he is also a baptized member that must have just gotten lost in the mix. It was amazing to see the Lord's hand in this work. We are going back tonight to visit her again. We gave her a copy of the Book of Mormon to read. She was also excited to receive one. We phoned the member who gave us the referral and she seemed really surprised, but grateful, that we called her back. 

There are many more miracles happening here in this part of the Lord's vineyard and I am so grateful to be a part of it.

Have a wonderful week! Thank you for your prayers. I look forward to more letters :)
Love you all.

Sister Saal
Read Romans 8:35 to the end.

October 22, 2012 letter

Hello mi familia (and friends) -

What a week it has been here in the Canada Vancouver Mission. We are seeing miracles here.
On Thursday night we drove down to Nanaimo, about an hour and a half south of Courtenay, to spend the night with some members. Early the next morning we woke up. And by early, I mean early! We got up at 3:30 am to catch the 5:15 am ferry over to the lower mainland. Talk about lack of sleep. There are 3 sets of sisters on the island right now and we found a dimly lit area to get some sleep. We were sprawled everywhere. However, it was totally worth it! We had a conference with Elder Haleck of the Seventy. What a treat that was. You should all re-read his talk in the April 2012 Ensign. It was good. We had a nice time with him and he shared many things with us. I think it was amazing because it seemed to be exactly what I needed. I wish I would have brought my notes with me, but I forgot them. We had a nice lunch full of all the Chinese food you could eat. And the Elders ate a lot! They always do though.

After lunch I was given a wonderful chance, thanks to Sister Tilleman and my temporary companion (we were on exchanges), to sit down with Elder Haleck and talk one-on-one with him. He also gave me a priesthood blessing! How amazing is that. A member of the Seventy talking to little ol' Sister Saal. He told me to call him and he would come to my homecoming. Wow, what a treat.

Other than that, not too much has been going on. Things are great. I am really enjoying Courtenay.  The baptisms have been postponed to the 17th of November. Work hard to find new people to teach. Falling in love with the ward members and one less active member in particular, who came to church yesterday! :) We are planning a trip to China and she says we can stay with her parents. Sweet. China anyone?

Keep up the prayers and the letters. Sorry, I wish I had just a little more time.

Love you family.

Sister Saal

Read Doctrine and Covenants 58:2-4 :)

October 15, 2012 letter

Hey family - (and friends)

Just telling you now, things are getting COLD up here. I am freezing and I have a feeling I am going to be cold from now until April. Sweet right?

Loved the scripture dad! I am excited to read more from the First Book of Dad, since that scripture was in Chapter 2. 

(This is what Mark wrote last week: 

This week’s scripture:

“Yea, verily, and it came to pass that Mother and Father loved Sister Saal with all their hearts, and with all their might, and with all their minds, and with all their strength.”

– First Book of Dad, Chapter 2 (tee-hee))

But things are going really well here. I am loving Courtenay, though I think I am ready for a bit of a change. However, apparently I still have work here to be done. That knowledge is keeping me going.

Sorry this week's letter might be a little boring. We have had the Port McNeil sisters staying with us the past few nights. We had stake conference and President Tilleman spoke. It was amazing to see him again. Starting tonight, we are going on exchanges. I am staying in Courtenay and Sister Vallejo is coming down. Sister Nuttall is going to Port McNeil. That town is small. I spent a few days up there and wow. There are about 2000 people in the small town.

We have three people with a baptismal date for the 28th of October. It is coming up quick. We may have to push it back a bit, but please pray for them.

Other than that, nothing really new. Sorry this letter is boring. I love you all.

Sister Saal.

Scripture: Read 3 Nephi 11. It is one of my favorite chapters.

October 9, 2012 letter (the 8th was Thanksgiving in Canada)

Hello Family! (and friends)

Happy day after Thanksgiving Day everyone. Thanksgiving in October? Yeah, I know it is crazy. It doesn't even feel like Thanksgiving. As one less active member stated (he is from the US as well) "Canada is always trying to beat us. From putting Thanksgiving a month before ours with no significant reason for Thanksgiving, to celebrating an Independence Day 3 days before the Fourth of July when they are still in the Common Wealth." It made me laugh and it is SOOOOOOO true. :) I love Canada, hey? We went to a members home for Thanksgiving and had some turkey. I ate until I was stuffed and they gave us left-overs.

Last week we had an opportunity to go to Nanaimo for a Zone Conference with President Tilleman. Spiritual high! It was an amazing Zone Conference and I had an opportunity to represent the Sisters in bearing my testimony. The Spirit filled me with words to say and I couldn't look at President Tilleman because he was in tears. The Spirit is so strong with missionaries and I love it. That is so neat about the announcement in Conference about the age of missionaries. I have a feeling the number of missionaries is going to dramatically increase. And yes, I could have been home by now, but at 19, I am not sure if I would have even gone. :)

Wasn't Conference just amazing!? I love watching Conference as a missionary, especially when you are sitting next to friends who have a desire to partake of the waters of baptism. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is so true! There is no denying it! All speakers were so inspired and taught nothing but true doctrine. Honestly, it was truly uplifting and inspiring. I loved Elder Holland's talk about being a Disciple of Christ! I love that story he shared from the Bible about Peter and the fishes. I went back to read it again. His talk made me really think about the type of missionary I am and the type of missionary I want to be. It is amazing to have the knowledge of the Atonement and how it can help me become a better person.

Things in Courtenay are turning out so well. I love this area so much. Sister Nuttall and I are seeing miracles and I am so blessed to have her as a companion. I am thankful for everything she does for me and for this area. What a fabulous missionary she is. We are getting along super well and we are seeing miracles!

This week went so well. We found some new investigators and set a baptismal date. Susan is who we have a baptismal date with and she is preparing herself to be baptized on the 27th of October. She is a sweet Sister and she loves the gospel. She has barely read any of the Book of Mormon, and she is already telling people "she has already joined the Mormon church". It is amazing to see her faith. Every time we meet with her, she is telling us about a new friend she wants to bring. A miracle happened this past week. She called to ask if we could postpone the appointment for an hour and meet at McDonald's. We brought a member with us who was so amazing. Well, Susan's friends Jake and Sally joined in for the last part. They both wanted a Book of Mormon and set up a time, for tonight, to meet with them all. So in a hour lesson, at McDonalds, we had a member present, 2 new investigators, and set a baptismal date. Heavenly Father is pouring out His blessings upon us.

That same day we had another Member Present and an Other Lesson. Wow! Things are so crazy here! It is only 3 right now and we have had two Less Active Lessons, and we have an Other Lesson (with a new investigator) and a Member Present with 3 of our investigators scheduled for later today! I don't even have time to breathe!

We are having amazing things happen and I am forming friendships for life. One less active member wants to take me to China when she goes back to visit her family. Sweet!

I love you all so much. I am so thankful for your love and support. I am so thankful to be a missionary for the only true church on the face of the earth. Please write me!

As always, names have been changed.

Love you,
Sister Saal

Scripture of the week. Psalms 27:1 "The Lord is my light, and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?"

Also read the last scripture of that chapter. 

October 1, 2012 letter

Hello my dearest family ! (and friends)

A warm(ish) welcome from the Island on the first day in October. I am still here in Courtenay and I am loving every minute of it. This place truly is the promised land. I may move back. :) Sister Nuttall is my new companion and she is fantastic. She trained Sister Thayer (Caitlin's last companion), so she is like my step-grandma. She is from Delta, Utah and spent some time at BYU. She is getting close to the end of her mission. I hope I am not the one to kill her. 

I have been spiritually fed this week and and the feeding just keeps on coming. Zone Conference tomorrow, followed by General Conference, and Stake Conference. My mind may just explode! 

We had the chance to go to Richmond for the Sister's Conference. Thursday night Sister Thayer, Sister Nuttall, Sister Thompson (Sister Nuttall's old companion and Sister Thayer's new companion), and I went out to eat in downtown Vancouver at an amazing Thai restaurant. We were stuffed and shared a little message with our waitress. We headed for the night and had a chance to sleep at President and Sister Tilleman's home. They are so kind to us.

Friday we went to the Sister's Conference and the Spirit was there. Oh man. I was able to see Sister Doria and Sister Post again (both former companions). They gave us Taco Del Mar for lunch. I miss Cafe Rio! We were truly inspired and I love how much love President and Sister Tilleman have for the sisters in the mission. I was able to have a little chat with President Tilleman and he gave me some great advise. He said he had "big things for me soon." With President Tilleman, you never know what that means. After spending the night at the Tilleman's again, Saturday morning all the sisters on the island, 3 sets, took the ferry over to the island and departed separate ways.   

Sunday at church was amazing. We had an investigator bear his testimony, which made me bawl like a baby. It is amazing and strange to see the love that I have for these people. I have only been here 12 weeks and yet I feel like it has been years. He told me he was sorry he hadn't opened up more to me but that he, and his less active girlfriend, love me. It is amazing what the spirit does!

In closing I just want you to know of my love for you. I am thankful for the many prayers and I love getting letters people!

Love you all so much. Have a wonderful week.

Love, Sister Saal.

September 24, 2012 letter

Hello Family, (and friends)

Another wonderful week here on the Island. Transfer calls come in today. We think we will both be staying, but you just never know. It is always a surprise. I wish they would call us before we go food shopping though. The hardest decision for today, do I buy things that need to be refrigerated? That is mission life for you though. :)

I am happy to say, that this week has been very productive. We had 3, almost 5 investigators at church this week. The extra 2 we aren't teaching just yet. We had a wonderful less active come to church as well. We have been trying to get a hold of him since we got here. Tuesday we were finally able to get into his home. He is from another country and hasn't been to church in a while. He actually ran up to the Elders when they were here saying he wanted to come back to church. it was a tender mercy from the Lord.

Anyway, he said he would come to church if we had the 13 Articles of Faith memorized. Neither of us did, but he said we would still come to church. Happy to say, I memorized all 13 Articles of Faith! Started Tuesday night and had them done by Sunday. So amazing. I have been using them while out talking to people. How awesome is that?!

My favorite thing to do, but also the scariest thing to do, is bear testimony when others oppose. Yesterday we were walking down the street and stopped to talk to someone. His friend came out and they were talking about how there are so many churches. We told them our purpose as missionaries is to help them find out for themselves. They opposed saying "that is what all the churches say. Are there 19 different Gods out there?" My companion ans I testified that the only way they will know is if they find out for themselves. As I was testifying it seemed to have pierced their hearts. They took a card and  said they would check out the website.

Mom, when I get home we are going to a spa and getting massages and pedicures!

I am so excited to see what transfers has in store. We are going over to the mission office on Thursday for sure, if not Wednesday for transfers, and we get to spend two nights in the mission home with President and Sister Tilleman. I am so excited for this opportunity and I look forward to seeing all the Sisters in the mission.

Conference is coming up and who is excited?! I cannot wait for the opportunity that I will have to sit among my brothers and sisters and listen to the Prophet of God. I know that Conference will be an uplifting and joyful time and I hope that you are all ready to listen to a prophets voice. One thing we have been challenging our friends to do is to come to conference with a question in mind. I know that if you come to conference with a question in mind, you will receive an answer. Me? I will have like 40 questions.

Continue to write me, family and friends. I will respond as quickly as possible! I am thankful for the love and the support and the prayers I feel from everyone! Continue to press forward with faith.

Read Alma 24:14!

Love you all.
Keeps the love coming.
I send mine back to you.

Sister Saal

September 17, 2012 letter

Greetings Earthlings-

Canada seems like a strange planet. :)
Just kidding, I love it!

Sorry my emails have been slacking lately. Things have been crazy and times have been hard. I am learning from them though. I know that Heavenly Father is teaching me something and I know that if I plug away long enough, I will figure out what it is. It is probably a lesson in patience. Seems like that happens a lot out here. Surprise right?

No, things have been good and we are seeing miracles.

This week we had a new investigator. She is amazing. I wasn't sure that Preach My Gospel was right when they said people were prepared by the Lord. She is an amazing woman. She has so much faith. We had a lesson with her last week and it went really well. She called us on Tuesday to set up a time to have us over for dinner. She wanted to make sure we got a time that would work with a good friend. We are having dinner with the both of them tonight. We then received a phone call from the friend on Wednesday informing us that our investigator would we coming to church. We both lit up when we saw her yesterday. I was watching her during Sacrament Meeting and she felt the spirit. She was amazed by the speakers. In our investigators class we talked about the Holy Ghost. She loved every minute of it. She keeps telling us she wants to join our church, but she doesn't know if she can fully commit. I cannot even begin to explain how prepared she is. It is like Heavenly Father opened up the heavens and lead us to her. She is having major surgery next week and received a priesthood blessing yesterday. She truly is a miracle.

It was a testimony to me that this is where I need to be at this time. I needed to meet her to help her progress. That is just one miracle though!

Another one - a sister in the area. The elders were tracting in our area. They found her and invited her to be baptized on the 30th of this month. She said she would think about it. We met with her and she expressed her desire to be baptized. She was simply amazed when we told her the First Vision. She is excited to see Conference. She is great. She has blue hair! She was worried that the blue would get on the baptismal clothes. She has been prepared by the Lord.

Despite the hard times, things are going well. We are going over to the Lower Mainland next week for transfers and for the Women's Conference. Then we have the Relief Society Broadcast. Then, unless I am transferred, a Zone Conference with President Tilleman. Then General Conference. Then Canadian Thanksgiving. Then Stake Conference. WOW! I am excited for the next few weeks!

I am thankful for all your support and love and prayers! I am excited for the all the many blessings I am seeing.

I love you all! Have a wonderful week.

Sister Saal.

D&C 33:17

September 10, 2012 letter

Happy Grandparents Day! Sorry I am a day late, but I want you to know, I hope you had a great (fake) holiday! :) Love you both.

This week has been pretty crazy, but it has been pretty good. I will give you a little brief overview on the week. Sorry, there never seems to be enough time in the day. The ward is taking such great care of Sister Thayer and I. They are feeding us like crazy and they want me, I think I talked about this last week, to go in to a natural doctor for a vega-test. It will let me know if I am allergic to anything. Still waiting to hear back from the mission office.

We have had few lessons, but they have been great. I am excited to see how they turn out. Things are going well for the area, and I am learning a lot about myself. I know what it was talking about in Ether 12:27. Weaknesses are coming out, weaknesses I didn't even know I had. My job is to work on turning them into strengths.

Sorry this week is a lame letter. I will send a better one next week, hopefully along with a hand-written letter. Sorry it has been a while mom.

Love you all. Give the kids a hug for me next time you see them.

Read 1 Samuel 17. I love the story of David and Goliath. We all have our Goliaths we need to face.

Sister Saal 

September 3, 2012 letter

Hello family!

Yesterday was Labour Day and so the library was closed. I am thankful for that because I was able to rest a lot yesterday.

This past week was pretty rough. We were inside most of the time due to Sister Saal being sick. That is right. The antibiotic they put me on for my sinus infection made me sick to my stomach and I threw up a few times. Not a pretty sight. The ward here is so great and Sister Thayer took good care of me! I slept a lot and she was able to do some extra studies!

While I was able to sleep/ rest, I was able to learn a lot about me. One major thing I learned while being sick is how much the Lord really loves me. Last Sunday we had the opportunity to speak in Sacrament Meeting. Sister Thayer did amazing on her talk on the Power of Scriptures. I was humbled by my topic. It was an address given in the October 2011 General Conference entitled, 'You Matter to Him' by President Uchtdorf! I love that talk simply because it talks about how much God really does know and love us. I feel small at times. I feel SO inadequate. I feel like I won't make a difference. However, that is how Satan wants us to feel. He wants us to feel alone, and small, and worthless. And yet, Heavenly Father loves us so much! He feels our sorrows. He knows our pains. He loves us perfectly. He has created worlds without ends, and He wants to hear from me. I am one in trillions, and yet I matter to Him. How true that is. How strongly I have come to see that. I love that talk! I am so thankful for the tender mercy in being assigned to speak on it. It was an amazing learning experience for me and for that, I am so thankful.

Another thing I have been working on is applying the scriptures to myself. A friend wrote and told me about the experiences he had. I have really thought about that. I try to apply my name in the scriptures, but I never would have thought about putting myself in the shoes of a Roman Solider, or Judas. It is amazing how much we can learn if we really apply the scriptures to our life. 

I love receiving letters from people, and I sent out a bunch yesterday. Sorry mom and dad, next week I will send a hand written letter. I had so many I had to catch up on, and I am still trying to play catch up. I love you family. I am thankful for your love and support. I am thankful for all you do.

Sister Saal!

Read 2 Nephi 24:3! One of my faves!

August 27, 2012 letter

Hello family! (and friends)

It is a beautiful Monday here on the Island! I hope things are going well for you down in Utah. How is the weather? It has been nice here.

The biggest news that I have to share at this time - I went to the small town of Port McNeill on Wednesday to do an exchange with the North Island sisters. Honestly, it is a small town, 3,500 people-maybe? It is at the top of the Island and it is basically already winter there. It is so beautiful though! They have the World's Largest Tree Cancer! I took a picture. I will try and send some pictures when I can. It really is amazing here.

Anyway, we had a very amazing experience in Port McNeill. We had a lesson with a potential investigator. She is so amazing. She has been through a lot, but she has so much faith. We gave her a copy of the Book of Mormon to read and she said she would love to read it. The Book of Mormon changes people's lives. I am so thankful to be a part of that.

We found two new investigators this week, with the potential of like 5 more this. Keep this area in your prayers.

Sorry, I don't really have a lot at this moment. I am sick, again! YAY! Sinus infection came back and I went to the doctor's last Monday. Well, the medication is really not liking my stomach so I get to go back! Perfect right?! I will let you know how things go. One of these days I am just going to ignore the doctors and do what I think is best. Sister Tilleman doesn't think that is a good idea.

I love you all family so much. I am so thankful for your prayers and for your love. I hope things go well for you this week. And enjoy the time with the grand babies. Give them a hug and kiss for me. Don't let them forget me.

Love you.

Sister Saal

you should read: Alma 34! Great chapter.

August 20, 2012

Both Sister Saal and her companion stayed in Courtenay!!

This week has been good. Sorry it won't be very long. We had a baptism yesterday. A 10 year old boy was baptized and it was an amazing thing to be a part of. I am grateful for that chance to be a part of it. We have seen many miracles in the past week. Mostly meeting a lot of new people who are interested in the church. It is great.

I have to go to a doctor again. Lo and behold, my sinus infection came back. Awesome! So much fun hey?

Hey, do you remember that book, something about the Voyager? It has a lot of cool pictures. It was by James Christiansen. Hopefully you do. Megan loved that book. Well, we met someone up here who loves him. She has his artwork all over. Lo and behold, Sister Thayer knows him and it made an instant connection. She gave us some homemade organic soap to help with my eczema. A lot of people up here are really into being green and going organic. Has that happened in the states yet?

We are going to have a sisters conference with all the sisters in the mission in September. It is going to be amazing and I cannot wait.

Sorry, I have to go. Love you all so very much!

Sister Saal :)

Read and pray!

Read the introduction to the Book of Mormon. It is great.

August 13, 2012

Just letting you know, my letter will be pretty boring this week!

Happy Birthday papa! I hope your day was super awesome old man! Just kidding, you are not old. But really, happy birthday. I hope mom made you a cake or something. Eat a piece for me. :)

Things here are good. That was so kind of Sister Thayer (she wrote a letter to us telling us how wonderful Sister Saal is). I had no idea she sent you a letter. She is great. She is from Provo/Orem/St. George. Her family moved a round a bit. She wants to do fashion design, so she is super stylish. Makes me a little jealous, but as long as my mommy thinks I am special. I keep forgetting my cord or else I would email you pictures. I will remember one of these days.

Well, today we get our transfer calls. And thanks to the Elders, it will probably be at like 10:20 tonight if we get one. We find out if one is leaving, if both are, or if we both are staying. We have a feeling we will be staying, but we never know. It is a surprise. It is kind of exciting to find out what is going to happen.

That is fun to hear about your trip. I miss backpacking and camping. I think when I get home I am going to go out in the woods somewhere for like a week! No cell phone, no computer, no traffic. Just good ol' mother nature.

Courtenay is going well. We had a little slower week than we wanted. People used their free agency to cancel appointments. Frustrating, but I think Heavenly Father is just trying to teach me something.

Biggest news, I don't remember how much I said in my last email, but we have a baptism on Sunday. It is a 10 year old boy. His mom, his grandpa, and his sister are all less active. The mom and sister have been coming back with him. He is so excited for Sunday, and it is going to be a great day. I know this, because Satan has been working extra hard on making sure things don't work out. However, we have faith to move mountains.

Sorry I don't have more to share. I hope this letter finds you well. Sorry about the water main (we had a water problem at home). That is not fun. At least you have uncle Pat. Make sure he doesn't do anything to harmful though.  

Give the kids a hug and kiss for me!
Love you all.
Sorry, not feeling well today. Letter will be better next week.

Sister Saal.

p.s. I hope you get the card I sent papa.

August 7, 2012

Hello Family!

I was a little worried that you would be worried about me, but you won't even get this for a while. We were unable to email yesterday because of BC days! They have a lot of random but awesome holidays up here. I hope you have fun on your trip. I am a little jealous, but I think I am having a better time that you. :)

Courtenay is amazing! It is getting pretty warm and humid out there, but it is so good! I love the beauty, and boy is it beautiful! The mountains on one side, the ocean on the other. It is so green and it is simply amazing. I don't know how else to explain it, so I figure I would just get you really jealous of the wonderful place I am in.

We are seeing miracles here! We really are. We had an amazing almost lesson last night with a potential investigator and her husband. The Spirit was there and they are defiantly being prepared by the Lord. It was such a touching experience to see their hearts pricked as Sister Thayer and I bore our testimonies. Long story short, they want to meet with us again. Even though the husband was saying he wouldn't be here, his tone was telling us he would. It gets me motivated and excited to be in this part of the Lord's vineyard.

6 months ago tomorrow I was entering the MTC. It is incredible how time is flying. On Monday we will receive transfer calls. It is interesting to think that I have been in Courtenay for almost 6 weeks. It seems like nothing. It seems like only yesterday I was on the ferry headed back for the Island. I don't even want to think about how fast it will head from here. I am not ready to be done yet! Good thing I still have a year!! Ha ha!

I think you may have been gone before he dropped it off, but a friend of my bishop here lives in Farmington. He is in the Farmington South Stake, but he said he would drop some stuff off for me. Thankfully, I don't have to ship it home. I wish I knew their last names, but it is Bob and Marilyn.

I have been trying to take more pictures, but time gets away from me. I am sorry. I really need to send some out.

I hope work is going well. Miss the grand babies yet? Yeah, me too.

Sorry I have to get going! I sure do love and miss each one of you. Please write me! Tell my friends to write me!

Love you all.

Sister Saal

John 16:33!!!

July 30, 2012

Hello family,

Another week down, so one less to go right?! Ha ha. Not like I am counting or anything. I don't even know how long I have been out here in Courtenay. Seems like it has been years.

Things are going pretty well here. Things happen, but that is part of life right? The investigators we have been working with have yet to come to church. Ah, it is so frustrating! I think I mentioned that last week, so I will not talk more on it.

Big news from here! We have a baptism set for two days before transfers. We don't know if we will be transferred, but it is awesome that he wants to be baptized before one of us leaves. He is the cutest kid ever. He is 10 years old. His sister, mom, and grandpa are all baptized but less active. They are coming back to church (we are still working on the grandpa) and loving it. We are hopefully getting his older sister involved with the YSA. We are doing FHE Monday nights with the YSAs. Sometimes we have trouble teaching him, but he is super excited for the date. He is already telling all his friends. I will send pictures when I can.

I need to work on that. One of my goals is taking a picture everyday. I think I have taken 6 since I have been here in Courtenay. I need to work on that.

Life is full of ups and downs. We have been working with a lot of less active members who want to come back, but for some reason won't. It is hard to see that they have lost that joy and love they once felt. I want to give it to them. I want to share it with them. I can't when they don't want it though.

One thing that we talked about in District Meeting really hit me hard. We were talking about the Book of Mormon. I agree with Elder Holland when he said "For 179 years this book has been examined and attacked, denied and deconstructed, targeted and torn apart like perhaps no other book in modern religious history—perhaps like no other book in any religious history. And still it stands. Failed theories about its origins have been born and parroted and have died—from Ethan Smith to Solomon Spaulding to deranged paranoid to cunning genius. None of these frankly pathetic answers for this book has ever withstood examination because there is no other answer than the one Joseph gave as its young unlearned translator. In this I stand with my own great-grandfather, who said simply enough, “No wicked man could write such a book as this; and no good man would write it, unless it were true and he were commanded of God to do so.” How powerful! You should listen to that talk. It is Safety for the Soul by Elder Holland. We talked about the moment when we realized the Book of Mormon is the Word of God. It was amazing to listen to my fellow missionaries explain just a part of what makes them... well them!

I testify that it is true.

Please ponder that. When did you really see that the Book of Mormon is true?

I love you all. Have a wonderful week!

Sister Saal

July 23, 2012

Hello Family (and friends)!

Time is flying by. I can't believe that it has been almost 6 months. Crazy! You probably won't even recognize me in a year. It seems like a lot of things are changing within me. Wahoo! Brand new Sister Saal.

Things here in Courtenay are pretty good. The work is slow here. We are still trying to figure out what to do with whitewashing. A lot of the investigators the Elder's were teaching are not so interested anymore. I know that the Lord will bless people for Sister Thayer and I to teach. Thank goodness for that.  It gets difficult at times (when investigators and less actives don't show up at church, even though you called them the day before), or even when people don't like that we have rules to follow. They are always trying to make us stay longer than one hour for dinner! I am learning a lot about being bold and loving!

President Tilleman came over at the first of the month for a Zone Conference. We had interviews and he gave me a blessing. He also told me that when I find the man of my dreams, not for a LONG time, he would gladly do a second interview (after you papa) to make sure he is a good one. It made me laugh a little. President Tilleman is a good man! Zone Conference was awesome!

Last week, Wednesday, we had the privilege of having President Tilleman over on the island again. He came up to Campbell River, 30 minute drive from us, and met with Sister Thayer and I, along with Sister Davidson and Sister Vallejo in Campbell River. It was an amazing meeting that we had with him. It was so personal and the spirit was amazing! We went on exchanges, Sister Vallejo and I went to get lunch, while Sister Thayer, Sister Davidson, and President Tilleman went to a lesson with someone. We came back and he did another interview and another blessing. I am lucky to have him here.

He then came down to Courtenay for a lesson with a family. The mom is less active. Her father lives with them and he is less active as well (he has a lot of Word of Wisdom problems). Her son is 10 and not baptized! They want to come back to church. He wants to be baptized. He are going to try for the first or second weekend in August. President Tilleman was amazing with the 10 year old boy. It was such a special lesson I just wanted to cry.

I am learning a lot about myself here! Things are so crazy and so not even what I had imagined.  

I hope you know how much I love you all. I pray for you all. I think about you a lot (in a good way and not a distracting way).

Read Alma chapter 5. It is an amazing chapter!

Love, Sister Saal. 

July 16, 2012

Hello family (and friends)!

I love the pictures from Yellowstone and I hope all is going well. I am jealous of the fun times you had, but I have been having adventures of my own. I would love to share them with you!

We are in a new area. New companion, Sister Thayer. We white-washed this area. Meaning, the Elders left and we came in. The apartment was so gross! We had to deep clean last week and today too. We have cleaning checks on Thursday. Fair right? Ha ha. (Sorry if any of this repeats and I changed the names of people)

The ward here in Courtenay is great. The valley is amazing. We haven't done much exploring, but it is so good. From our apartment you can see the "glacier" that supplies the water for bottling plants. I like how it says "ozone added." How in the world do they do that? However, things are going good.

We have been working hard at dropping by the less active members and part member families. There is one boy who is super stubborn and it's annoying. He comes to YSA and everything, but he refuses to come to church. One day we dropped by one of our investigators. She wasn't home and as we were leaving we saw a guy in a truck. Well, we got to our apartment building and there he was. He looked a little rough around the edges. We got to our door and Sister Thayer stopped "I don't think I want him to know where we live." We knocked on the door and pretended like no one was home. We got in the car and prayed, asking what to do. The Spirit told us to go talk to him. We got out of the car and he was walking towards us. We smiled and waved. He took out his head phones and smiled "You must be the Mormon missionaries."
We smiled "How did you know?"
He laughed (I am paraphrasing this part) "I grew up in the church. I just moved from Vegas. Is there a church around here?" We told him where it was and invited him "I have been meaning to come one of these days." We got his number and told him we would text him and remind him. MIRACLE!!! He wasn't at church yesterday, but he is hopefully coming to the YSA activity tonight.

Amazing things are happening here.

It is hard to tell you all the things that have been happening because there are too many. When I get home I will basically read you my journal :)

We had a zone conference last week and President Tilleman gave me a blessing. He is such an amazing man. He is coming to Campbell River (Sisters are there) and Courtenay on Wednesday. He wants to meet some of our investigators and we know amazing things are going to happen because of this.

Things have been rough lately, but they are looking up. You can't be happy all the time right? Just keep praying for me and I will overcome these stepping stone. 

I leave you my testimony. It is simple. It has been shaken. It has been torn apart. It has been pieced back together. It is simple, but it is true. I know that God loves me! I know that God loves each one of you. I know that He has put us here for a reason. I know I have come to BC for a reason. I see that every single day. I know that He cares about what we are going through. I know that He never gives up on us, especially when we give up on ourselves. He is fighting for us, and sometimes we are fighting with Him. I know that however far off the path we find ourselves, he will always be there to guide us. We have to turn to Him. We have to trust in Him. I know it is hard! I know that because I "fight" with God every single day. But I also know that as I let go of the things I want He is going to help us with the things that we need. I know it is hard, but I know it is true. Never give up on our Father in Heaven. Never give up on yourself.

I love you all so much and I hope things are going well.

Scripture: 2 Cor. 12:9
Read His Grace is Sufficient by Brad Wilcox.

Love you all.

Sister Saal

July 9, 2012

Courtenay is good. I have a new companion and we whitewashed this area. It is the most difficult thing I have done. In all honesty, I don't like it. But I will do what the Lord wants me to do. We have a really good ward. The bishop is great. He and his had us over for lunch on Friday afternoon. It is so beautiful here in the Comox Valley. Mountains and the ocean together for some fun!

Sorry I don't have much to say. I am pretty tired at the moment.

We live in an apartment complex. The Elders were here before us... super gross. Our car had sunflower seeds all over. The laundry room smells like cigarette smoke from the neighbors downstairs. Yay.

Love you.

July 3, 2012

Biggest news?!

SISTER SAAL IS BEING TRANSFERRED!! Got the phone call last night at 10:25 (meaning we didn't sleep much last night) saying that Sister Doria and I are both being transferred. I guess we aren't right for Victoria any more. It is pretty sad, I am going to really miss the ward, but I know that President Tilleman is inspired. I am heading up island to Courtenay and Sister Doria is heading over to the Lower Mainland to Maple Ridge. They are splitting us up, but we have grown so close that we will be hanging out after our missions are said and done.

I have done all I have been sent here to do in Victoria, at least, that is how I am looking at it. It is going to be super hard to say goodbye to some of the families that I grew close to, but I am happy for Facebook. We have busy busy busy days ahead of us. We have 4 lessons today, 3 lessons tomorrow, saying goodbyes, updating our area book, cleaning our apartment, and packing. HA HA! It will be so interesting to see how things work out. I hope President doesn't expect us to sleep for the next few days, because I don't see that happening.

The weather here has been crazy. Sunny one day, rainy and windy the next. I am not sure how much I like the weather, it is just too unpredictable.

I have been trying really hard not to get down about our area. It has been slacking a lot. We have very few investigators, and the ones we do have super crazy concerns, and it seems like a lot of people we talk to just aren't interested. I know everyone has their agency, but sometimes I just want to scream. Maybe Elders will come in and get her up and running again.

I have been struggling being Christlike lately. People seem to get on my nerves. One Sister in our ward tore into Sister Doria for her shirt being "too tight" which is was not! Even if it was, the way she said it was unacceptable. Sister Doria chose to let it go, but it has been eating at me. I find my patience very thin. Then yesterday at Xavier's School, we were walking around. This lady asked if we knew anything about it, but we didn't. She then said "You must be from Utah." We smiled, "Yeah, how did you know." In a cold flat tone "That black name tag is a dead giveaway." She walked away. I know, I know, I know I should not have let that get to me, but I couldn't help it. Being a missionary is hard! It is good, but you are always under a microscope.

Sorry I don't really have a lot to say. I just never know what to write. We have been slacking lately, and so the miracles have slowed down. I think it is a miracle that we are being transferred. We are sucking the life right out of Victoria.

I am glad to hear everything is going so well. I pray for you all every day. I love hearing the stories about Ryan offering little prayers for me. It is so sweet of him. Please give all of them a huge hug for me!

We went to the castle where they shot X-Men! Sick! We found Hugh Jackman sitting in the study. It was pretty legit. We converted him :)

Love you all so much! Sorry, I have to get rushing.
I hope you know how thankful I am for all of you!

This has been so rewarding. There are down times, but I am trying not to let them get to me. I know that as I lean on my Father in Heaven and Christ's Atonement, I will become better. My scripture comes from the Bible. It is one of my favorites.

John 14:18.
It is so true!

Love you!
Love the gospel!
I love missionaries.

Sister Saal

June 25, 2012

Big News!!! An investigator and her mom were baptized this week! It was so amazing, it brought tears to my eyes. They are such an amazing family. I am so excited to see them continue to grow. The husband of the investigator didn't make it sadly. He was having chest pains so he stayed home. The mom had to be baptized three times before she went under all the way. She was terrified, she has a fear of water we didn't know about until after she was baptized. It shows her great faith though. She is so strong. She is so amazing. She was beaming after the baptism. The investigator did great and they both were so happy after. Right before the mom was confirmed, Brother Fisher asked if the daughter (our investigator) wanted to sit next to her and translate during the prayer. She said "No, I will tell her later. Plus, the Spirit will tell her what is being said."

We have two new investigators.

One is a man of the Jewish faith. Elder Hayward and Elder Jensen (Duncan Elders) gave him a Book of Mormon back in March in Duncan. He couldn't talk then but they gave him one anyway. A few months later we talked to him on the street. He met with us once and is open to learning more. It was a miracle!

The other is a former Jehovah's Witness. Surprising right? We may not have the most baptisms, but it seems like we will have good quality ones.

Transfer calls come in a week from today. I hope I stay here in Victoria. There seems like there is so much left for me to do. I don't know how I would handle a new area. However, it is up to the Lord. I will go where he wants me to go. It will be interesting to see what happens.

I am feeling a lot better about everything in my life. It is difficult at times, but I can't give up. I know that I am being supported by so many people, and for that, I am so thankful. I am seeing miracles that I don't feel worthy for.

I am glad the weather has been good. It has been pretty nice here.

I am so thankful for your letters dad! They help me so much! I love reading your encouraging words and I hope they never cease! I am sorry my letters back are so boring. There is so much to tell and not even close to enough time. I will spend weeks telling you about everything when I get home. It is crazy how time is flying by. Basically 18 weeks since I left the MTC. WOW!

I love you family. Sorry, I have to run. We have a VERY busy day ahead of us.

Love you lots.

Sister Saal.

Scripture: Alma 27:6-7 I don't know what it says at the moment, but President Tilleman said it was good. That must be true!

Love you!

Pictures from the mission



Sister Saal and Sister Doria with the pigs - not sure of the story behind this.




Sister Saal at Xavier's School for the Gifted - where X-Men was filmed.  Isn't she beautiful?




Sister Saal's name in Arabic.



June 18, 2012 email

Dear Family (and friends),

Have I mentioned lately how much I love you all? Have I also mentioned lately how much I love being out here on a mission?! Because I do! (most of the time)

Things are going so well here!  I hope you know how much I appreciate your love and your prayers! It is helping me through the work.

I am so thankful to be here. I am humbled to be a part of bring people closer to our Savior. Times can be hard, but I know that the Lord is always in it. He is leading me. He is guiding me. He is making sure that I don't give up. The Father of Lies however is working super hard on me and my companion. We have been meeting a LOT of contentious people lately. A lot of people have been sharing their strong dislike for Joseph Smith and Brigham Young. It takes all my energy not to throw a fist. That is not very Christ-like, I know, I am working on it.

The other night we went to a lesson.... Ended up being a party to bash on Mormons. It was about 5 Chinese ladies. They were trying to get us to watch clips on Youtube entitled "What is wrong with Mormonism" Funny right?!! Not. We testified and tried to leave. They told us we were too young to be stuck in one religion. We needed to explore more... Blah... blah... blah.... We testified more and got out of there. It was so strange. They had made food for us too. It looked gross. I thought they were going to try and drug us with the food, so I refused to eat it.

We have met some great people as well. Yesterday I met a guy who was pretty interested. I gave him a Restoration pamphlet and he gave us his phone number. We are going to call him today to set up a time.

We are seeing miracles!

Sorry, I am almost out of time. I will send a snail mail letter if I can.

 I know this church is true. I know that Heavenly Father loves each one of us. He has a plan for each one of us. He really does listen to prayers, but only if we ask.

I would like each one of you to pray tonight. Ask God if He loves you. I promise that if you have a desire to know, he will answer you.

I love you all so much. You are my favorite family (and friends) in the whole wide world!

Scripture: 3 Nephi 18: 21

Love you.
Sister Saal

Latest letter

Sister Saal has been very lax on writing home.  I guess that's good that she is busy with the work, but we sure missing hearing from her.  Her birthday is June 12^th, so please send her a birthday greeting.  Here are excerpts from recent emails.  At the end is her latest letter.

Transfers were the end of May and she will be staying in Victoria for another 6 weeks!!  She is very excited about that and wants to move there when her mission is completed.  Both she and her companion, Sister Doria - from Centerville, have been sick with a nasty sinus infection.  They were kind of out of commission for about two weeks and lost some of the momentum they had going for them.  Their mission president has been helping them with some of the families they are teaching.  Another investigator is a single mom with twin boys.  The boys LOVE Sister Saal – are you surprised?  They are also working with the ward to help reactivate the less actives.  Sister Saal loves her ward in Canada and an older couple has become her second mom and dad.  (I am so grateful for the support they are receiving.)  Sister Saal has had lots of opportunities to provide service to the church members and the investigators.  She loves her mission.

Her latest letter: 

May 28, 2012  (it takes about 7-10 days for letters to get here)

Hello family (and friends):

How wonderful it is to finally write you a letter.  Sorry it has taken me way too long.  Sorry it will be a short one as well.  P. Days seem to fly by super fast. 

Seems to have a few miracles:

1.       Our special family is not being dropped into the reflecting pool  They were kind of avoiding us for a while but we were able to see them last night.  The mom and her mom (we call her grandma) are doing so well.  They love learning and they are happier now.  I don’t know what was going on with them. We took pictures with them.  I tried sending them, but it wasn’t working.  They are wonderful.  (I will post those pictures as soon as I get them.)

2.       Our single mom with twin boys came to church yesterday.  It was stake conference and it was a broadcast.  They talked about how much they love Canada!  Ugh! Just kidding.  I love Canada, just not the doctors. (She’s not been too impressed with the Canadian doctors as she’s been working through this illness.)  It was really good because she and her boys are meeting a lot of members.  We invited her to be baptized and she will pray about it.

3.       I have been on a Joseph Smith/Emma Smith high lately!  I can’t seem to get enough of the Smith family.  Oh, and did you know Joseph had more than 1 wife?  I sure didn’t, at least until an investigator brought it up.

We have been trying to work hard despite our lil’ illness.  I hope things work out and I get better soon!  Stinks being sick.

Sorry I don’t have much this week.  However, this is going to be the transfer of miracles.  I will keep you posted!

Love you all.  Keep reading.  Keep praying.  Keep going.

Sister Saal

Mother's Day phone call

May 13, 2012

Happy Mother’s Day – We were able to talk to Sister Saal for about an hour today.  She is doing great.  She and her companion were both sick with sinus infections, so they lost a little bit of momentum in their missionary work. Both are feeling better and are getting busy again.  They have been working mostly with the less actives in their area.  They have been providing a lot of service to those members in need. 

The next transfers are May 24^th – we’ll see if she is staying in Victoria, or moving to a new area.

No snail mail letter for a couple of weeks  (we chastised her about that today!!)  She did send me a birthday cake - a note written on the back of a Betty Crocker cake mix box - postcard style.  Devil's food - my favorite!!  The box had "sub-titles" in French.

We just wanted to let you know that all is well with her.  Talking to her made us miss her a little more (okay, a LOT more) than usual, but Mark and I both know she is where she should be and is working hard.  She absolutely loves it in Victoria – she wants to move there after her mission is over.  We are looking forward to going back with her once her mission is completed. 

Here’s a picture of her with her new haircut. 

Please keep her (and all the missionaries serving throughout the world) in your prayers. 

April 22, 2012

Two letters in one week!! Bonus.

Hello family & people on my blog.

Greetings from up North.  Another wonderful week has passed and I have realized something.  Missionary work is work!  It is so crazy how things happen. 

We (Sister Doria and I) have been pretty busy this week.  We have done so much service for the members in our ward.

 Brother and Sister Jones are from Wales.  They both have really amazing accents and they are so very kind.  Brother Jones had a heart attack and is still recovering from surgery.  He loves sneaking cookies and cake when his wife isn’t looking.  They are such a sweet older couple.  I could spend hours listening to Sister Jones talk (tales of Wales – didn’t mean that rhyme – and all their fun adventures).  We cleaned her windows with a secret recipe.  Vinegar & water, with a little soap.  Works so much better than any store bought product.  You should try it.  They fed us “bunwiches”.  Merely a sandwich on a bun instead of bread. 

More window cleaning at the Binsteads!  I learned the other day that I have been saying their name wrong for 6 weeks.  How embarrassing.

There are more, but let’s just say my cleaning skills have reached an all-time high.  (I can’t wait till she gets home to help me clean!!)

Wonderful things are happening here in Victoria!!

Monday 4/16/12:  We had a call to repentance from our zone leaders about obedience.  Read 3 Nephi 6:5, Moroni 8:25 and D&C 72:3-4.  Things our zone really needs to work on.

We had a wonderful dinner with a family in the ward & their neighbor!  Ah!  They are our family from Pakistan and so are so wonderful.  Tonight he said, “I want to know which religion is true, mine or Mormon.”  Of course, we knew the answer to that!

Tuesday 4-17-12:  Happy Birthday, Abby!!  (Sister Saal’s niece who turned 2.)  We were eating dinner at Dairy Queen (we felt inspired to go there – don’t laugh) and we saw one of our investigators walking outside with her daughter!  We had been trying to get a hold of them for a week now!  We ran outside to talk and set up an appointment.  Even more miraculous, our food was still there when we returned inside!

Wednesday 4-18-12:  We had a super great district meeting today.  Elder Takabori is our new district leader.  Let’s just say, we have to sustain our leaders, right?  On the positive note, he gave a really good district meeting. 

Thursday 4-19-12:  Miracles never cease!  Mormon 9:15, Moroni 7:30-38.  Throughout the scriptures everywhere!  God is a God of miracles, I can testify of that.  However, faith precedes the miracle.  We did so much service today and I felt like God has been so merciful.  We went to the a member's home to clean and eat pizza.  Their son is super crazy!  He absolutely loves me.  He tries to climb all over me and I have to push him off.  We can’t have children sitting on our lap, so I get super paranoid whenever I am around him.  He is so funny, though.  I may adopt him.  We taught one of our recent converts about patriarchal blessings and he really wants to get one.  One of our investigator families had us over again today!  We wanted to see them before they headed to Vancouver for the Sink (?) celebration (not sure what this is).  Such an amazing lesson.  We talked about the power of the Book of Mormon.  He told us about a dream and wanted us to interpret.  He was standing between two worlds.  Both were awesome, but one was slightly better.  He had a BoM in his hands.  He was about to go to the one that was more desirable, when something dark grabbed the back of his shirt.  That is when he woke up.  Awesome, right?  It is so true.  We got on the subject of transfers & we said how we could be leaving in 5 weeks.  He was sad.  He said they thought of us like family.  They wanted to call President Tilleman to tell him to let us stay.  Another investigator is just waiting till her family comes over from India, said “Ok, they are leaving in 5 weeks.  You should get baptized in 3 weeks.”  She grabbed the calendar.  “May 10^th.  Sound good?”  I was so happy, I felt giddy inside.  The mom agreed right away, but the dad was a little more hesitant.  He said he would pray & read the BoM.  He also asked us to pray for him.  We have no doubt they will be baptized on May 10^th.  Honestly after that lesson, I wanted to cry I was so happy!

Friday 4-20-12:  More service!  Really great lesson with a less active.  Mom, do you remember that guy we saw asking for money on the way back from Girl’s Camp?  He was so close to home & we gave (you gave) him money.  We both got in the car and bawled ‘cause he reminded us of Tyler (who was in China at the time)?  I shared that story and cried again.

Saturday 4-21-12:  Saturday!  We met with our single mom today, and her boys.  They are so cute.  One was wearing a Batman costume.  We taught them using a picture book, more about Christ & His life.  We were also able to get in her house and help her clean.  It was really good.  She has really been opening up to us.

Sunday 4-22-12:  I love Sundays! Out here they are especially good.  We have been having great weather!  Sunny and upper 60’s F.  We were able to drop by some LA (less active) members.  None were really interested, but it was good to get to see & know of them.  We had dinner at the ward mission leader’s home.  Supper was good, dessert was also good.

I am so glad to be up here!  I know this is where I need to be.  I am so happy I have met all these people.   Read, Ponder and Pray.  Choose the Right.  Feed the missionaries.  Oh yeah, & write me!  

Love, Sister Saal