Dear Sister Emily Dahl, You are hereby called to serve as a missionary of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. You are assigned to labor in the Canada Vancouver Mission. It is anticipated that you will serve for a period of 18 months. You should report to the Provo Missionary Training Center on Wednesday, August, 7th 2013. You will prepare to preach the gospel in the Mandarin Chinese language.
Wednesday, January 22, 2014
January 14th Note - Vancouver Temple
Dear mom,
Sorry I am not writing until today. Our P-day was switched to Tuesday because we went to the temple. I was worried that you would be wondering why I didn't write but I hope this email receives you well. I can not believe Shane is home. I teared up a little seeing the picture of the whole family in front of the house. I miss you all so much. We all know that I am where I need to be though. It's great to hear that Shane's talk went well. I knew he'd do amazing. He's an amazing missionary and an incredible example to me. I am excited you all are able to be with him again. Don't worry, about one more year and we'll all be together again. That'll be a good day!
So this past week the Lord is really testing us. It seemed like we would set up an appointment and then they'd either cancel or they'd stand us up. More often then not we'd get stood up. A lot of our potentials and investigators don't pick up the phone when we call so we found an option on our phone that hides our number haha they started picking up! It's sad that the people we feel are ready and have baptismal dates are the ones who seem to be too busy. We pushed through though. Also, our mission standards of excellence increased. 5 member present lessons a week and then 7 new investigators (one each day). President Tilleman is fully invested in the hastening and is pushing us a ton. It's tough but it's exciting to see the work progressing.
We had one baptismal date that we were for certain was solid. Her name is Suki and she has 2 twin girls. They are 3 months old and her sister in law is in our ward. She feels so ready to be baptized and has such a strong desire to commit herself to the Lord. Her husband is okay with her being baptized, even though his parents don't agree. Her only struggle is getting to church. She lives in vancouver (our chapel is in Burnaby) and she has no car. We can find rides for her but she can only bring one baby and her mother in law watches the other. Our members are willing to help bring her but these last 2 weeks she canceled because the babies get to bed too late and she is too tired to come. It is so sad. Last week was supposed to be her baptismal interview and this sunday her baptism but she cancelled her ride last minute. We also are worried because we think something happened with her family. We'll see her on Friday and I pray everything will be okay. I know Heavenly Father will make a miracle happen.
So last week was tough but this week has already been incredible. Yesterday we saw a ton of miracles! We had a lot of street contacting time and in about an hour we had 2 new investigators and met a less active member of the church that we had been looking for for months! He had been in China then when he came back he changed his number and moved. It was incredible that I had remembered his name on our member list and that I was able to make the connection. Also we had a lesson yesterday with a girl named Ariel. She set a baptismal date for February 19th and we are so excited! She really was a miracle and has a ton of desire to learn.
All in all this week is off to a great start. I can see miracles everyday and everytime i open my mouth to speak Mandarin it reminds me that I am a walking miracle. There is no way I would be where I am now with out my Heavenly Father. Today in the temple I recieved so much revelation that my spirit was hungering for. I realized how to improve my companionship, I realized that , just like Shane said, "God knows what's best for me and has invested SO much in me." I also realized that Satan gets us with the little things. We have to be careful or else he can and will bring us down. I felt an abundance of God's love today and am grateful that I was able to go to the house of the Lord and feel a lot of peace and direction that I needed.
I pray all is well at home. It seems like the house is full of new things. Abi and Lucy are as cute as ever! and Shane looks great. I love you so much mom and I am super blessed to have a mom like you. I hope dad has fun in Dallas and everyone continues to be well. I pray for you always.
Love, Sister Emily Dahl
Friday, January 3, 2014
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