September 9th

Hey Dad! 

   It's so great to hear from you!  It's so awesome you went on trek!  I always wanted to go but it never worked out unfortunately.  Nice to hear Shane Hatch gets the privilege of spending a plethora of time with you.  He is being blessed. (You can tell him I said that)  It's been raining here quite a bit.  I would say I hate it but I need to learn to love it.  A sister in BC emailed me and told me that about 50% of the people she sees are Chinese.  And that I need to get water proof shoes and a good raincoat...it rains.  A LOT. yayyy! haha  I will learn to love it, I know.  She also said to study hard and look at some Cantonese too, WOW.

   I am so glad to hear that mis amigas (Young Women from Via Verde Branch) are doing so well! Wo ai tamen! They are so great. Please let them know that I love them so much and that camp was such a wonderful experience! They have blessed me so much and would LOVE to hear from all of them! 

   BEAR DOWN! Its good to hear they are having a pretty solid pre-season. Please keep the updates coming, they really are greatly appreciated!  It's crazy how 90% of my district doesn't even know what a touchdown is haha.  Well that's probably the extent of their knowledge.  If you care to know my Pokemon they gave me is Nidoqueen...I am blue, look like a rhino, I'm tough, a leader and awesome.  My powers consist of strength, toxic, earthquake, and horn drill..It's pretty epic haha.  I'm learning to embrace it since there's not much else I can do! haha Also you will be proud to know I told the John Button Salmon story...except I got 1926 and 1927 mixed up again....dang it!

   I LOVE LUKE NEAL! He is seriously an angel sent from heaven that is super fit!  I love it.  I am so grateful he is so willing to help Coy with his goals and endeavors and also help you with yours.  Keep going Dad!  You can do this!  I know you can!  I pray for you every night. Could you send a pic of coy??  I want to see how ripped he's getting haha in a missionary appropriate/ sister kind of way. (Note from John: Luke Neal is a fitness trainer that moved into our ward a few months ago and helping Coy, Brad and I)

   Tell the sisters to keep going! They will be so so blessed for their service and willingness to accommodate to the needs of the mission! Tell them I love them and that I will pray for them!

   So this week... Some pretty big things happened.  I am realizing the type of person I am. Strength: I can see. I can see my faults like no other!  I can see that the Lord is breaking me down and that He's starting to mold me.  I can see that I need to shut up sometimes.  I can see that silence is a good thing.  I can see that I'm in trio because God loves me and knows me.  I can see a lot. but Weakness: 1. I don't often see these things for a while.  I try so hard to be better, but I often don't even realize me speaking Chinese in a lesson is a bad thing or that me correcting others is "what I do" (as sister Astle puts it...that one hurt).  I don't realize these things and it's tough for me because I want to be better and grow, but if I cant even see the problem then it cant be fixed.  2. I finally see what's wrong and I want to try and tackle every single thing at the same time! not possible. I can't eat a whole elephant at the same time.. It's coming piece by piece, but its tough being patient when you're trying to see improvement in yourself.  Overall moral of the story, I am growing.  I really am.  You may not be able to see it, but I can feel it. Each day I can get better.

   Yesterday we had a district meeting all about the Atonement. I had been thinking about it all week because it was our topic for our church talk.  I contemplated my faith in Christ and His sacrifice.  Yesterday it hit me though.  I do have faith is Christ.  I know His atonement is real.  We went around the room and bore our testimony of what Christ meant to me.  I said Christ gives me HOPE.  Hope that who I am today doesn't have to be who I am tomorrow, or next week, or next year.  I know I can be a better person and through Christ I can become the daughter of God He sees me as.  It's incredible.  I felt my Saviors love so much as I spoke those words and I totally cried. It was awesome. 

   Another thing from yesterday is, I am now Sister Training Leader.  Yep. the calling I said I did not want is now mine.  I'm sure you called it Dad haha.  Well my job is to help the sisters, be the eyes and ears of the presidency of what the sisters are doing and how they are feeling.  I am really grateful for this opportunity.  I have been praying ever since I got here for opportunities to love and serve others and I know God gave me this responsibility so that I could love others and serve them.  And I know I will be able to be an example. We get a few new sisters in our zone next week and I'll be in charge of helping them get adjusted and knowing the ropes.  I am so excited and feel so privileged to have this opportunity.  Also, my companions are the music coordinators..I love it.

   Well I love this work. The Chinese is coming.  It really is a day by day thing.  I am learning a lot.  In a lesson this week I said "When we meet you with last week we can teach this" hahah.  I totally meant "When we meet with you next time we can teach you this" haha.  Those things just keep me going.  Gotta laugh to stay sane haha.  Well I love the work.  Thank you for everything!  Could you send me the "I found my friend" story I shared at my farewell??

   Thanks for the Canada stuff! I love the t-shirt!  In Chinese Vancouver is pronounced "one-ge-hua" hahah its great!  Thank Tina and Rick for me. They dropped off a package this week and I love everything they sent! I love you all! Stay strong! 

   - Sister Emily Dahl