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
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
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.
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
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.
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
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
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
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
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
Monday, October 29, 2012
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.
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.
Thursday, October 25, 2012
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 :)
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 :)
Thursday, October 18, 2012
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:
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.
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.
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