July 15, 2013 letter

H

ello family and friends! Welcome from Aldergrove, my last area where I will end up dying (mission term for going home). It is a wonderful place where there are many wonderful people. My new companion is.... (drum roll please)... Sister MacMillan! She is a true red, through and through, Canadian citizen. She likes to drink maple syrup for breakfast! :) She is teaching me Canadian and the song, O Canada. Maybe I will be a Mountie when I grow up! :) Really, though... she's the best. She has been out for 9 months. I am just really glad that we are oldies together. She always tells me I am dying so I started responding with "You're going through a mid-life crisis." We get along super well. 

Well, I am really sad I left Maple Ridge for the last 6 weeks, but it feels right to be here. There is so many wonderful things going on. We have 2 baptismal dates and we are working with some wonderful people, though I haven't met any of them yet. 

However, I have to tell you about a song before I forget. Well, a few songs. Mom, will you buy me a cd when I get home. It is called The Work, Nashville Tribute to Missionary work. On there it has a song that brightens our spirits when ever we sing it. It's called "Children Go Where I send Thee." It is a country hick song and I love it so much. 

Well, Sister MacMillan welcomed me into Aldergrove by feeding us 3 week old chicken. Yeah... we may have gotten food poisoning, though I was sicker than she was. It was a great bonding experience. 

Sorry this weeks letter is boring. I love you!

Sister Saal 

July 8, 2013 letter

Hello everyone! Life in the fast lane is pretty.... well... fast. Time seems to be going by at an unreal speed. Tonight I find out where I will be spending my last 6 weeks as a missionary and with who. I am really hoping I stay in Maple Ridge. That would be a pain to move for 6 weeks. However, as the hymn says "I will go where you want me to go."

 

This week has been amazingly epic! We are seeing so many miracles, I can't even take them all in. The Lord has blessed me with a lot of strength, though sometimes I try to run faster than I can. I am just so incredibly happy! I feel like I am right there with Ammon when he sees Alma again. Alma 27:17 "Now the joy of Ammon was so great even that he was full; yea, he was swallowed up in the joy of his God, even to the exhausting of his strength; and he fell again to the earth.

18 Now was not this exceeding joy? Behold, this is joy which none receiveth save it be the truly penitent and humble seeker of happiness."

 

I love being a messenger of the truth and sharing my testimony with all those who will listen. I want to stand on the wall with Samuel the Lamanite and preach repentance to my brothers and sisters in Maple Ridge and throughout the world.

 

I had the opportunity to talk to Elder Christiansen about going to Africa. He gave me his email and told me when I finish my mission, give him a shout and he will set me up with something. He told me about 2 girls that are going in October for 4 months. I told him I might join them! How cool.

 

Life is super good family. I am so very blessed to be here. I am thankful for the chance I have to serve. It is a blessing in my life and something I will never forget.

 

Love you all!

 

Sister Saal

July 2, 2013 letter

Dear family (and friends) To start off with, sorry if it is a bit short and all over the place. My mind isn't working fully at the moment. 

 

What a week it has been. Full of miracles and full of blessings. The Lord loves us! I can testify of that. He loves us fully, completely, perfectly, and infinitely. He truly is watching over us and I can testify that He hears and answers our prayers. The past few days I have been blessed with so much strength to accomplish His work here in Maple Ridge. What a wonderful place to be. Blessings are being poured out and there is not enough room for me to receive them all.

 

Next week is transfers. I will find out where I am going for the last 6 weeks. AHHA! So weird. I don't know how I feel about it. However, next week they are doing a Sister's Conference for all the Sister Missionaries in the mission. It will be an amazing time. I have been asked to do a little presentation. They are going to split us into 7 groups. There will be 7 different stations the sisters will rotate through. I have been asked to be at one of the stations to talk about stress management in the mission field. I have been learning so much while preparing, though I feel like I will be talking from a hole in the ground. I am not very good at managing stress, though I have learned a lot about it over the past 17 months. I will let you know what I come up with. :) Well, what the Lord comes up with.

 

Yesterday to celebrate Canada Day, we went to a picnic the ward held at a lake. There were a few non-members there and a few less active members there. It was a good time to bond with these people and get to know them a bit better. We talked to a non-member who was invite by one of the sisters in the ward. Hopefully we will be able to start teaching her. I love Filipinos (I have been spelling that wrong for the longest time)! Not random, I promise. One of the members gave us a ride there. Two of the Filipino sisters had us eat with them. They love making sure we have enough to eat. I have tried to say no, but as I told everyone that tried to refuse food from the yesterday "You can't say no to a Filipino!" How true that is. How much I love them though.

 

Life is good! The church is true! I love you all!

 

Sister Saal

June 24, 2013 letter

Hi family (and friends)  It has been an interesting week here in Maple Ridge.

 

The broadcast yesterday was truly an amazing and an uplifting experience. Many tears were shed as I listened to the servants of the Lord talk about the most important work on earth. It was incredible to see how much the Lord is hastening the work. I am so thankful to be apart of that hastening and to be a missionary for the only true and living church. I love this gospel so much and I love the Savior with all my heart. I am thankful for all that He has done for me and all He continues to do for me. I  just love this work so much.

 

This week the mission office phoned to tell me of my release date. So scary to think about, but that time is coming. I will be coming home on August 21. Less than two months! Baha! I am sure as you can all imagine, it is a very bitter sweet moment for me. 

 

With my time speeding up till I go home, I have been pondering about my service and all that I have rendered and all that I want to accomplish before the time I go home. In my studies this morning I was reading in 1 Peter 1:6-9 

"Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations:
That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:
Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory:
Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls."

 

It hit me hard. The past few weeks have been a trial of my faith. I haven't been able to do as much as I would like to do, I have to sleep when I don't want to, my body won't work when I want it to, and sometimes my mind wanders to distant places. It has been an experience, but I also know that the Lord has been with me every step of the way. He has been there when I have felt like no one else was. Waking up in the middle of the night with an unbearable headache is not fun. I can't exactly wake my companion to talk about the things on my mind. However, I have had many wonderful experiences while on my knees late at night. If anything, this experience has really taught me to rely on my Savior and all He does. That led me to read a scripture in Hebrews 10:36 "For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise."

 

I love this gospel. I love the truth that I know. I love my Savior. I love the Lord's mission.

 

I am so thankful for each one of you. I love you all.

 

Sister Saal

Pictures from the mission

These are pictures sent to us by a recent convert in Sister Saal's area.  It was his 65th birthday!!  Love the cake.





Sister Duffy and Sister Saal

 



Sisters Brown, Duffy and Saal



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

June 10, 2013 letter

No official letter from Sister Saal this week, but she is doing good, working hard, and staying busy.