November 12th Email

Dear Dad,

So this week was a roller coaster to say the least. We had 7 appointments cancel this week and 4 people dropped us. We had a lot of finding time and it caused me to realize that my speaking skills are not where they need to be. I am understanding so much more but it's not enough, I can't share the gospel unless I can communicate to the what the gospel is. It was super tough. But the weekend was great.

Elder Paul V. Johnson of the 70 was here. He presided over our stake conference and I learned so much from him. We had a baptism Sunday, Agnes Teng. She is awesome. Her desire to be better and her faith are incredible. Then yesterday, we had a mission conference. I learned so much on how I can be a better servant of the Lord and what I need to do to hasten this work. We had a transfer call. Sister Ding (the taller one) is being transferred to Richmond and Sister Lin and I will stay here in Burnaby. I did not see this coming. The thought of me being a senior companion is absolutely terrifying. I fear that next transfer Sister Lin will leave too and I'll be left to tell the new sister about the ward and the people.

I received a letter from Kaylie Sanchez yesterday and she is doing so well! Her testimony is so strong and she is sharing it with everyone. She has so much faith.

This transfer is going to push me and make me a better person and missionary, and I thank God for allowing me to have this opportunity to grow. He knows me and He knew that I needed a push, I needed to run a little faster and get a little further out of my comfort zone. "There's no growing in a comfort zone and there's no comfort in a growing zone" I read President Monson's talk this morning from General Conference. It brought so much comfort (and tears). With Christ, I can do this. He will heal my aching heart. He would never give me more than I could handle, even though I can't see that now. We can do anything with Christ.

This morning after companion study, I went in the bathroom and got on me knees. I plead with the Lord, in a verbal prayer to help me. I am feeling His love more and more and I am learning to rely on Him. I am learning to trust in the calling He has given me. I ask you and mom to continue to pray for me, I really need it right now. I don't know when it's going to get better but I have faith that it will. I know that as I endure my trials patiently, I will be so much stronger. I will be able to relate to more people and I will become more of the person God wants me to be. I'm going to be quite the catch after these 18 motnhs ;)

Anyway, I'll tell you more about the mission like you had asked. So we don't eat with members, we aren't allowed to unless they have an investigator friend, less active, or it's a part member family. From 5-7pm is consecrated finding time. We aren't allowed to have any other planned activities at that time, except lessons, but we need to be tracting or street contacting. This is a finding mission! Then 7-9pm is supposed to be consecrated member time. Since we aren't allowed to eat with members, we visit them at this time. For our ward it's a little tricky because the Chinese wards have no boundaries. It's people from all over the lower mainland, so it's tough to find members to attend lessons and visit them unless we plan well. It's better now that we have a car but it's tough. Our ward is struggling a bit. There are the few super active members, but they aren't super fired up about missionary work. Stake conference was all about the ward and missionaries becoming one and I hope that they get more excited. I am working on getting to know the members better. I am pushing myself to get out of my comfort zone and talk to people (weird, huh?). I usually can't shut up, but in Chinese I am the quietest one in the room, I'm working on it.

Tell Mom I love all her notes and cards, they help more than she knows. I got the package and I loved it all! My comps were excited too. Tell Kaylie I loved her letter and sorry that I didn't get it until now!

I am glad my cats are doing well. I miss seeing that red and blue run across that green! Keep me updated on their coming weeks. I can't believe Shane comes home in 2 months. Crazy. He's a crazy kid. I can't wait to see little Lucy grow up, make sure she knows who Aunty Em is haha How's Abi?

Well I love you. Thank you for the emails and the prayers. I will be okay. I am just becoming more of who God wants and needs. I hope you have a good week and tell Raini happy birthday for me (it's on thursday). I can't believe she leaves next week! She'll do great.

Keep me in your prayers, you are definitely in mine.

Love, Sister Emily Dahl

Autumn Leaves.

Nice smile?

Sister Dahl with her Chevy Cruze

Note from November 4, 2013

Dear Dad,

It's great to hear about everything going on at home. Tell Sam thank you for understanding what I am going through. It is really tough but it is getting a lot better already. (Comment from John: I shared a story Sam told me from his mission in Uruguay. He said that he learned Joseph Smith's Testimony in Spanish and shared it with a couple during a lesson. When Sam finished he said the couple told his companion that they did not speak English.  Sam said he had spoken Spanish the entire time. Sam said it was devistating).  

Thank you for the prayers in my behalf. So cool to hear about Coy! Tell him to give em the "hot stinky cheddar!"  I hope all goes well. Ron is such a blessing for being so willing to help out with Coy's future. I will pray for Poppy. That's so tough to see him struggle with his health. I hope he pulls through soon. Also Scott. Tears trickled down my face as I read that paragraph...It breaks my heart to see him have to go through such a tough trial. Tell him to "Bear down" and that I can't wait to see him in 15 months. I know He can fight this.  (John Note: My good friend Scott Stump is fighting cancer).

I am glad work is going well. How is the ward? I do know Sister Demordant. (John note: she is the first cousin of Sister Thompson, a full-time missionary serving right now in our ward) She picked me up from the airport when I arrived. Such a small world! Tell mom to hang in there with the work drama. She is strong and I know she will be a blessing to those there. Good to hear my Cats are doing well. They can do this! Is the ASU game home or away? #beardown 

That's so neat that Kaylie got her patriarchal blessing. I guess she brought a friend to church and he has been progressing a lot. I havent heard from her since September...I'm sure she's doing well and busy changing lives. 

SO this week is a lot better! I am finally starting to see more joy in the mission. It's not perfect yet but I am finally starting to see the light at the end of this dark tunnel. I've been here almost a month. Crazy. It amazes me that I have grown this much in such a short amount of time. Everyday is a new amazing lesson. I love personal study time. It helps me really strengthen my testimony and remind myself of the truthfulness of the message we share and that my pain and suffering are not wasted. As I struggle to learn this language in order to help others see this truth, I know God will bless me. Like it says in Doctrine and Covenants 46, the gift of tongues is a spiritual gift. In order to obtain a spiritual gift we must 1. Love God 2. Keep His commandments and 3. Seek out the gift. As I have come to learn more about what my part is as I seek out this spiritual gift, the more faith I have that it will be granted unto me.

Another thing about spiritual gifts is that we have to thank God. He is more than willing to bless us with these gifts but we have to remain humble and acknowledge Him. In a lesson the other day we were teaching the Plan of Salvation and I was teaching the creation and then the spirit world. I got the creation well enough and then prepared myself for the spirit world part. I began thinking, "I got this. I've done this like 10 times"....bad idea. I tried to speak mandarin when my turn came and BOOM. I couldn't speak. My words were jumbled. I couldn't remember anything. I relied on myself instead of the Lord and He wasn't about to let that happen. It really taught me a lot about humility and always giving the glory to God.

As my mandarin improves, I see that the only way I have been able to progress this much in 3 months is because of God. Without Him there's no way I could be where I am or get to the place I am going. I am so grateful that I have the opportunity to speak this language and that I get to serve the Lord. I try everyday to enjoy everyday and every moment. My time is short and I need to do all I can to serve Him. 

I am learning so much about patience. Another part of Doctrine and Covenants Section 46 says that we will receive these gifts by God's will. I took that as His conditions and in His timing. I need to constantly seek the gift I desire but it will not be granted unto me until He desires to give it. Also as I put more faith in Him and trust His will, I in return am more patient with Him. I know that as I learn Mandarin God is blessing me with so many other ways and is helping me develop so many more spiritual gifts that are helping me become all He desires.

We did get a car. It was a little stressful at first and I hate that my companions try to tell me where to go in chinese because there's no way I am going to understand what you're telling me. I'm driving haha It's getting better though. It's cool that I get to learn the city so well. I drive a ford cruze. It's pretty sweet.

Some business...Next week Elder Paul V Johnson is coming and my P-day will be switched to Tuesday. Don't worry too much when I don't email on Monday. 

I love you! I pray for you everyday! I hope everything is good at home. Send pictures in the mail, I'd love to show   Look up President Uchtdorf's talk "Our Privilege, our potential" Something like that. It's all about the priesthood but it can apply to anyone. It really has changed my point of view of my mission experience. 

Love, Sister Emily Dahl