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

April 16, 2012

Snail Mail letter from Sister Saal!!  Yippee!!

Hello!  So sorry to have taken so long to write you.  I never know how long it takes for letters to get to you. By the time you read this, it will be old news …

One transfer down … woot, woot!  Crazy how time goes by.  I am still in beautiful Victoria with Sister Doria and we are loving it.  So many amazing things are going on here.  The gospel is spreading like crazy and we are seeing so many miracles.  Please continue to pray for the missionary effort that is going forth.  Joseph Smith once said, “Our missionaries are going forth to different nations.  The standard of truth has been erected.  No unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; persecutions may rage, mobs may combine,  armies may assemble, calamity may defame, but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purpose of God shall be accomplished and the Great Jehovah shall say, ‘The work is done.’”  How true that is.  I am seeing it first hand!  I love it.

Talking to people about the gospel is a lot easier than I thought it would be.  It makes me happy to see people accept.  It breaks my heart when they deny.  Sister Post said they aren’t denying me, they are denying Christ.  At first, that made me feel good.  Yeah, I am not being denied.  But then Sister Doria pointed out how sad that is.  I agree!  How can people do that?  It makes me cry.  I would rather have them deny me!

Well, those who have not denied:

I think I have told you about our family from Sudan.  They are all so cute and progressing well.  We are trying to get them out to church. 

Our investigator from India is so sweet.  She has been attending church for the past 4 years.  Still not baptized, but she is waiting for her husband to come over from India.  She is living with a member and is so great!  She actually gave us a referral. 

We have a family we are teaching from Pakistan.  They are so loving meeting with us.  They are excited to learn more.  The father met with the missionaries in Germany years ago and was months away from being baptized.  So exciting.

The last one I want to tell you about is a single mom with 6-year-old twin boys.  She has no religious background but is excited to learn more.  Her sons are, too.  They came to church with us Sunday and all had a wonderful time.  They are so fantastic.  We are going to try to meet with them twice a week.

The members here are so great!  We have had the opportunity to go to dinner at members’ homes with members whom we thought hated missionaries.  More and more people are starting to trust us, which means, more and more people will trust us with their friends.  I have yet to see a baptism, but I am not giving up hope.  The Lord will provide.

We are super excited because hopefully Wednesday we will be going back to the main land (we were there Thursday for transfers) to have a giant conference with President Tilleman!  He is recovering so quickly!  It honestly is a miracle, and it is through Christ and President Tilleman’s faith.  He has so much faith.  (Shortly before Sister Saal arrived in Vancouver, President Tilleman was visiting with some investigators.  He stood up to leave, and the investigator’s dogs attacked him and bit him on his hands.  Apparently he lost quite a bit of blood, passed out and hit his head on a cement wall.  He had some real troubles after that, but it sounds like he is recovering nicely.  That’s why he has on the neck brace in Caitie’s  “Welcome to the mission home” photo.)

That is about it for me… I love you all.  Read, Ponder, Pray.  Feed the missionaries.

Love, Sister Saal