June 17, 2013 letter

Hello everyone.

 

Happy Father's Day! Didn't you get the email, you could have called me yesterday on Father's Day. Sorry, too late. :) Just kidding, but I hope it was a wonderful day for you. I hope you got/ get my card soon.

 

Also, thank you so much for the BEAUTIFUL flowers and the package mom! I got them both on my birthday so it was special. I loved the flowers. They brighten our apartment.

 

Well, like the title of the email suggests, I saw a bear the other day. it was a great big black bear, though it was still a baby. It was about 10 yards from us walking down the road. The crazy part is, it was in the middle of town right by the McDonalds. We went to stop by a potential and we were talking to her. She then said "Be careful," and pointed. We turned around to see a black bear trotting down the road. Everyone was talking about watching out for the momma bear, but we didn't see her. She probably saw us though. Creepy. However, it reminded me of my time on the island. It was really cool.

 

Yesterday at church I was talking to our Ward Mission Leader. He was telling us about the time he went to Africa with Elder Christiansen to work on one of his orphanages. Through all the stories I have decided that is going to be my calling in life. I am going to talk to Elder Christiansen and work in one of his orphanages in Africa or Haiti. As Brother MaCrae was talking, there was a special spirit about the things he was saying. I really want to go. I know mom wants to go with me too. He was sharing about how more important than building the buildings is the time that you spend with the kids. He shared this story;

 

They brought a bunch of things that people had donated to the kids. They were passing out toys to all the kids when two little girls came up to him. It was the last two girls so there was no one else in the room. One girl told how the other didn't receive a toy. Brother MaCrae handed her a toy and as she turned to leave, she said "Thanks Uncle". Since these kids don't have family, they teach that they have an extended family. It brought tears to my eyes. That is my calling in life.

 

One of the highlights of my mission occured yesterday when I saw Erick Villanueva passing the sacrament in church. He was baptized a few weeks ago and was sustained to the office of deacon. Now he is exercising the priesthood he holds to pass the sacrament. He was so nervous but I saw the smile on his face. I could tell he was so happy. It made my heart soar to see that. He looked at me a few times with a half smile. I gave him a thumbs up and his half smile turned to a full smile. It was truly a tender mercy from the Lord to see.

 

We had the opportunity to go on exchanges this week. I was able to work with Sister Davidson, she is a transfer younger than me and has been one of my good friends and supports here in the field. We were able to go on an exchange once before when we were both on the island. It was an amazing exchange. I am so thankful that I was able to work with Sister Davidson again. She is a powerful missionary and I am thankful for her example. We were talking about the new sisters that have been coming in and how wonderful we think they are. She was trying to plan a district meeting and I threw in some ideas. Together, we planned one of the best district meetings I have ever been to. The Spirit was so strong and we both received so much revelation. It was crazy. We talked about the talk, Forget Me Not. We applied that to missionary service and it has changed my mission. I love the petal that talks about "Forget not the why of the gospel". It was truly powerful. We have to remember why we are doing what we are doing. It is easy to remember what we are doing- sharing the gospel- but sometimes I think we tend to forget WHY we are sharing the gospel. This is the only way for our brothers and sisters to return to live with God. I have heard that many times, but it never really stuck with me until now. How true it is though.

One thing we hit on, that seems to be a common theme among the newer missionaries, was glory of the Lord. We talked about "just because you are not training after 6 weeks, doesn't mean the Lord doesn't love you and what you are doing." I feel that a lot of the new sisters are really focused on "I will be happy when I train... or when I baptize someone... or when..." I know I have done that. Not necessarily with training, but "I will be happy when I have a new companion... or when I have more poeple to teach..." The Lord is blessing us with so many things that it is almost a sin to say that. We have such great reason to rejoice and I will praise the Lord my God forever!

 

A scripture I read this morning hit me and I want to share it with you. It comes from Jacob chapter 5 verse 72
"And it came to pass that the servants did go and labor with their mights; and the Lord of the vineyard labored also with them; and they did obey the commandments of the Lord of the vineyard in all things." I love that! The Lord did labor with them! The Lord is with us always. Then the wonderful promise in verse 75 " And blessed art thou; for because ye have been diligent in laboring with me in my vineyard, and have kept my commandments, and have brought unto me again the natural fruit, that my vineyard is no more corrupted, and the bad is cast away, behold ye shall have joy with me because of the fruit of my vineyard." I wonder what the joy the Lord feels. I can only imagine it is the best joy ever!

 

Love you family!

 

Sister Saal