May 27, 2013 letter

Good afternoon family (and friends),

 

What a wonderful and a miraculous week it has been here in Maple Ridge. Truly, the Lord is blessing us more than we deserve. It has been a great week in the service of the Lord and He is merciful unto me. He has blessed me with so much strength. I am not fully recovered and I am not fully back to working all day without a nap, but I am getting better day by day and the Lord is helping me through it. I want to testify of the power of God. I received three priesthood blessings over the past few weeks. The power of the priesthood is limitless, because God's power is limitless. I know that. I have experienced that! What a wonderful blessing to have worthy priesthood holders here on the earth.

 

Well, this week is transfers. We find out tonight what will happen. It is a scary but exciting time. What will happen next? Ha ha. Maybe they will ship me off to Vanderhoof. That would be cool. Sister Dean has a feeling that we are going to stay together for the next 12 weeks. I can't believe that is all I have left. However, it is an exciting time and I feel like the clock is just speeding up.

 

This week was good. I had to do some resting, but on Friday President Tilleman came out with us to an appointment with a recent convert. His son also came. He just got home from his mission. And by just got home, I mean he had been home for only like 72 hours. We had a wonderful conversation and President Tilleman took some time to give me a blessing and talk to me. He is so great.

 

Then on Saturday we had the opportunity of witnessing 3 teenagers enter into the waters of baptism to make sacred covenants. It was a wonderful experience. I was able to take some pictures so I will send them off as soon as I can. It was wonderful to see. Soon, the father will join and then... to the temple. I cannot even begin to explain how wonderful this feeling is. I know some of you have felt that. It is just... happiness. Pure happiness.

 

I am so thankful for everything the Lord has blessed me with. I love you family. See you soon(ish.)

love,

Sister Saal

Pictures from our favorite missionary!!



Sister Saal and her companion Sister Dean, Sister Chen and Sister Wang




The Bruise



Sister Saal and the pole

May 20, 3013 letter

Hello family (and friends)!

It is a beautiful day here in Maple Ridge. I have not hit any more poles so we are good! What a week it has been though. Let's review what happened. 

 

(Just a review - Sister Saal and her companion go for walks every morning at 6:30.  During her walk one day, Sister Saal was studying her scriptures, trying to memorize one.  She wasn't paying attention and ran into a pole and gave herself a concussion!!  We can almost laugh about it now.)

 

I was sent to the ER again this week. Things from the concussion weren't getting any better, but were actually getting worse. Because of that, the mission nurse told Sister Dean to either take me to the ER or to call 911. Let's not freak out, but seriously? I could have ridden in an ambulance  Sweet. Instead, we decided to drive there. We were there for about 8 hours. Long time to be in the ER. However, they did some blood work (I didn't even cry when they stuck me with a needle) and they did a CT scan. It was awkward. The technician doing it was male and Sister Dean had to wait outside. For the first time in over a year and 4 months, I was alone with a male. AWKWARD! I have turned into a weirdo. I can't even hold a normal conversation with someone of the opposite sex. Wow. Someone is going to be weird when they get home. Proud of it too! 

Anyway, after the hospital the next day we drove to Vancouver, a hour or so drive, to see the mission doctor. She basically told me the same thing everyone has been saying. It will take time to heal. She said it could take a few months! What? I don't have a few months to heal, I come home in 3 months! I was talking to a member last night and I told her my plan. I am going to work my butt off for the next 3 months, and then when I get home I will give myself time to heal. I think it is a wonderful plan! I know papa will like it! :)

However, other than that, not much happened this week. I have been resting and sleeping a lot, but my strength is coming back to me. Yay. 

So, big news.........

 

3 wonderful teenagers are being baptized this Saturday in Maple Ridge! The Lord is blessing them so much. They have a strong desire to be baptized, and hopefully soon we will be able to help the dad enter into the waters of baptism too! I will send pictures when I can. So many wonderful things are happening for this family and I feel so blessed to be apart of their story. They have adopted me as their child and I feel so blessed. I call the boys 'ading' which mean "little brothers" in Tagalog. Sweet! 

Sorry this is a short letter. I haven't much time left or much more to say. Since a picture is worth a thousand words, I will leave you this picture of my bruise from the pole. The second one is me with the pole that did that to my head. 

Love you family! 

Sister Saal

May 13, 2013 letter

Hello again family! Twice with-in a 24 hour period? You must be so lucky. I must really love you! :) I am really glad that I was able to talk to you yesterday. Megan, you are forgiven. However, I will be coming down to your place for a week or so when I get home. Hope you are ready. Also, mom... on the way home from the airport we are stopping at Cafe Rio!

 

I have another riddle for you. I am going to give you a few clues and see if you can guess it.

What is...

-cylinder in shape

-metal

-tall

-unmoveable

- and hurts when you walk into it?

Have you guessed it yet?

 

It is a pole! And that is what I did last week. Early Tuesday morning we went for a walk. I have a bunch of scriptures I wanted to memorize and my mind tends to wander that early in the morning. Well, I thought it would be a good idea to try and memorize a scripture while we were out walking. Mosiah 5:2 is the scripture that is engrained into my head. Well, we were out walking and next thing I know, I walked into a pole! I laughed to keep from crying, though I just wanted to cry. Well, long story short we went to the ER and I was told I gave myself a minor concussion! Ha ha! Just my luck, hey? So, all week I have been on brain rest while those around me have taken care of me! Sister Dean is so great. She made me food and took really good care of me. Needless to say, I am doing much better and we are able to go out and work again! I will send a picture of the bruise shortly.

 

We are working with a few wonderful people. We have the wonderful opportunity of helping 3 of them come into the waters of baptism on the 25th! We are still working with the father and I just know that he will be baptized too. I told the wonderful sister that I would be there when they are sealed in the temple! What a glorious work to be engaged in!

 

I want to share something I learned in my personal study this morning. I was reading in Jacob chapter 2 and it says "to enlarge the wounds of those who are already wounded, instead of consoling and healing their wounds" It made me really think of the way that I talk to people. Everyone is going through their own battle on the inside, and it made me think "Am I helping them become whole? Or I am tearing them down with my words?" It just really made me realize that we need to speak kindly to others and preach the gospel. After all, in verse 8 it says "they have come up hither to hear the pleasing word of God, yea, the word which healeth the wounded soul." The message that we share is what helps them become whole again! Then, I was reading in chapter 7 in Preach My Gospel. I love on page 127 where it says "Listed below are ways you can strengthen your faith that the Lord will help you teach and testify in your mission language:
-Recognize that you have been called of God by a prophet.
-Live worthy of the companionship of the Holy Ghost.
-Be obedient to the commandments and to missionary standards.
-Pray sincerely for divine assistance.
-Study, practice, and use the mission language each day."

That applies to everyone. We are all learning a new language. We are giving up slang and we are showing the Lord that we will rise above the world! I love it! One goal that I have for the rest of my mission, and the rest of my life really, is to avoid loud laughter, light-mindedness, harsh speaking, sarcasm, and anything else that pulls away from the appearance of the Savior that I so desperetly want to keep with me. It made me really realize how important our language is and how words can hurt.

 

I love being a missionary. Thank you for all your support and love. I am excited to hear from you all. Love you lots.

 

Sister Saal.

May 6, 2013 letter

So everyone here really likes hockey (no surprise since they have hockey on the 5 dollar bill) and I am learning so much more about it than I ever wanted to! It is a good way to relate to people. Everytime people mention hockey, I simply say "Go Canucks!" and they think I am a fan! Rarely do they try to engage the conversation deeper, proving that I really know nothing about the game. I feel like I am a true Canadian. Oh, and real maple syrup is not that great. :)

 

Things here are going so well. I love being a missionary. I love serving the Lord. We have seen so many miracles that I can't even comprehend it all. I feel like my spirit may burst with joy! Please pray for our family that will be getting baptized on the 25th of this month! It will be such an amazing step for them. They will be one step closer to going to the temple to be sealed for time and all eternity. Sweet! Maybe I should rent an apartment here with how many times I will be coming back to see people go to the temple! Best part about being a missionary!

 

This week has been truly the best of the mission. First, I was able to go to the temple. I talked about that last time, so I won't go into more detail. Let's just say, when I get home I want to work there! Wednesday I had the sacred opportunity to go to Richmond to attend the Mission Counsel. It consisted of President and Sister Tilleman, President Noftle (2nd councilor in the mission presidency), the assistants, the zone leaders from each zone, and 4 other sisters! How special that was to be apart of it. It was an amazing experience and I felt very humbled to be among the leaders of the mission. President Tilleman smiled and said, "Sister Saal doesn't know why she is here, but she will find out soon." Ha ha. Really? He always does that to me! I was able to bare my testimony twice in that meeting, and then the next day. So within a 24 hour period, I bore my testimony 3 times in front of President Tillman. Do you think he is trying to tell me I need to bare my testimony more? Possibly! Thursday we had a conference with all of the lower main-land. There were 4 zones there, so close to 60 missionaries(ish). We talked about many things and the spirit was so strong. All who attended were lifted and edified!

 

"I say unto you, I would that ye should remember to retain the name written always in your hearts, that ye are not found on the left hand of God, but that ye hear and know the voice by which ye shall be called, and also, the name by which he shall call you.

For how knoweth a man the master whom he has not served, and who is a stranger unto him, and is far from the thoughts and intents of his heart?"

 

One thing that we talked a lot about is knowing the Savior. At the meeting on Wednesday President Tilleman looked right at me and asked, "Sister Saal, are your thoughts always on the Savior?" A lump came to my throat and tears filled my eyes. Do I truly know the voice by which he calls me? Sadly, the answer is no. However, it makes me want to be that much better.

 

I hope that these letters have been inspiring. I love writing you. Thank you for sending me letters and keeping me updated. I am so thankful for all you do for me!

 

I love you!

I will talk to you Sunday and then see you in a few months.

Also, Sorry for all the peoples birthdays I missed! Happy Birthday mom and Abby.

Love,

Sister Saal

April 30, 2013 letter

Hello family (and friends)!

 

I hope all is well. Sorry I didn't email yesterday. I hope you weren't too worried. We went to the temple this morning so we have P-day today this week. Don't worry, I will talk about the temple shortly. Sounds like you had a lot of fun with the kiddies down in Monument Valley. I am a little jealous. When I get home I am going to go down there and spend a week straight with the kids! It's sad that us missionaries can't hold or play with little kids.

 

Mission life is great. I couldn't ask for a better life. I am loving every minute of it. The bad times seem to be done away with and I am just really seeing the miracles that the Lord has blessed me with. I don't even feel worthy to have received so many blessing and miracles from the Lord. Where to even begin?

 

Well, we are teaching a wonderful family from the Philippines. I love them so much. The mom keeps us well fed when we go over there and her husband makes really REALLY good food. I am craving some right now. We are teaching her husband and their three sons! The three boys are so legit. I am so thankful that I know them. The whole family just puts a smile on my face. The three boys have a baptismal date set for mid-May and we are working hard, and they are working hard, to prepare! How much faith they have. The mom bore her testimony Sunday in church, stake conference is next week, and then her 18 year old son bore his testimony too. It put a huge smile on my face. I am so thankful for this family and the blessing that they are in my life. We made a question jar that they can leave in their home and put in whatever questions they want about the gospel. It is an easy way to know their concerns without one of them feeling dumb by asking it. Sister Dean's idea. So good!

 

We visited a sister from Costa Rica yesterday. I love her so much! I know I shouldn't pick favorites, but she is my favorite. I am her little Costa Rican friend. I love being in her home. The spirit is always so strong. Well, she was expressing a desire to go to the temple but is having a issue with coffee. She wants to talk to the bishop, but she gets scared at times. The impression came to my mind to watch the mormon message about Esther. If you haven't seen it, watch it! It is so good. It talks about courage and it was really good for her. Well, at the end of the lesson I asked if we could take her coffee maker. She said yes! Sweet! I am so excited. We are going to destroy it. :)

 http://www.mormonchannel.org/video/mormon-messages?v=2221439363001

 

The temple: What a wonderful day, even the preparation to go there. This morning we sang I Know that my Redeemer Lives. How powerful it was. It brought me to tears and I had to stop singing at a few points. It is one of my favorite hymns. We cleaned our car on the way to the temple so the spirit was even stronger in the car. When we changed and went into the chapel, you will never guess what song was being played. You got it. I know that my Redeemer Lives! Wow. I cried again. Throughout the whole session I was deep in thought about how wonderful Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are! My companion had to nudge me to raise my hand. Whoops. :) I was so lost in thought. Just wonderful things happened while I was there. I don't want to go into too much detail because I hold them sacred! The temple in an amazing place! I just love it so much. I will need a temple buddy to go to the temple with me each week. I even want to work in the temple when I get back.

 

One more exciting thing before I leave. The other day, Saturday, we got a phone call from the assistants. They left a voicemail "Sister Saal, we need you to call us as soon as you can." That was basically it. Well, I freaked out a little and called them back. Long story short, they were calling on behalf of President Tilleman to invite me to Mission Council, formally known as Zone Leaders Council. With so many sisters coming out, we now have districts and even a zone of all sister missionaries. Well, those sister districts, they need district supervisors (equivalent of district leaders only cooler, because it is a sister) to lead. Those sisters are invited to Mission Council. Pressures on!

 

I know that Jesus is the Christ. I know that God lives. I know that He has blessed, not only me with so many things, but blessed everyone. I am so thankful for that. I am thankful to be here serving a full time mission for Him. I know that the Book of Mormon is true. I love that book. It is the best. it has changed my life more than any other book. I am so thankful for that.

 

I love you family!

Sister Saal