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.