At the baptism of Echo

At Echo's baptism

Kaylie Sanchez with her parents at their baptism.

Note from March 17

Dear Dad,

   I don't even know where to start. My heart is full and words really just can't express how I feel about Saturday. Tears just streamed down my face as I read your comments on the baptism in Lake Havasu. It is an amazing feeling to know that when we just open our mouth and share the gospel, miracles happen. Knowing that Kaylie is a miracle, Kevin is a miracle, and John and Lynn are both miracles, gives me so much desire to share this message with EVERYONE! I am so happy :) I prayed a ton for them this week because I know how hard Satan works to prevent another soul being saved. I am so grateful all of those prayers were heard and Saturday was an amazing day.

   Thanks for sharing your testimony at their service. It means a lot to me that you could represent me. It makes me so sad I could not be there since these people are so close to my heart. I think so often of Kaylie and the amazing woman she is and is becoming as she has accepted the gospel. She does exactly what every convert should, SHARE THE JOY! She is the perfect example of this. It makes me feel so privileged that God picked me to help her come to the gospel. But then again, I didn't do much, I just got her in the building! I wish more than anything I could have been there but if i were to be anywhere but there this is a good place to be. But don't worry! I'll be with them next year in the temple, there's no way i missing that one! :)

   So Saturday here was a great day too! It rained ALL day. ( I am really hating all this moisture! No one wants to talk to us!) but despite the constant down pour, Echo got baptized! :) She is what we like to call, GOLDEN. She met with us for just 6 weeks, 10 visits, to be exact and didnt believe in God or anything. She was really interested and took every assignment to read and pray, very seriously. It is a miracle that we were able to teach her. She progressed to quickly and has such a strong testimony of the gospel. She was so excited to enter the waters of baptism and I told her that March 15th will always be a special day in her life (and also in mine). She had Satan working on her this week after she had to move to Richmond, reschedule her baptismal interview twice and then commute 2 hours by sky train and bus to get to her baptism, but she over came! She has such strong faith and I am so excited for her to progress in the gospel.

   This week I had the opportunity to go on some exchanges. It really is showing me that I can actually speak this language. The Sister Training leader (Sister Biggs, she's from Mesa) told me that in our lessons she didnt understand a word but she could watch me and told me "you are proof that the gift of tongues is real". She said I didnt even struggle, I was speaking chinese! I was pretty nervous to not have a companion that could say anything but Heavenly Father blessed me so much. Tonight is transfer calls. Sister Lin and I will find out if we're being transferred after 6 months. It's been a great 4 transfers and I have learned a ton but we will see what happens tonight. I feel like these last few exchanges are helping me see that as i rely more on the spirit and not on my chinese native companion, that the Lord really helps me see miracles happen. It'll be exciting to see what the future holds.

   Well I love you. I have been praying super hard for you this week. It does stress me out but I am trying to rely more on the Lord, just like you are. It's exciting to hear about Dylan. Tell him I say "Atta boy!" haha she's beautiful. Is she the one who dated Adam price for a long time? I know I have seen her somewhere before. So cool about Chris Kauffman. I am so excited for him! Also it's great to hear about all these mission calls and papers going in. I am so glad Jack is on his way. I got a letter from him not too long ago, love that guy! Everything is good up here. I am working hard and really seeing the joy in this service. Thanks for everything!

Love, Sister Emily Dahl

P.S. I forgot my camera card last week in the computer at the library...7 months of pictures gone. Please save all the pictures I sent to you on your computer :(

Coat from Aunt Paula Dahl

Note from March 11th

Dear Dad,

   Wow. I feel like every email I get is like a new piece of info to rock my world haha Thank you for telling me not to stress. I have a strong feeling that the Lord definitely will open a better opportunity for you. It makes me think of me applying to BYU. I thought I had it. No problem. but the Lord obviously knew what i needed, so I didn't get accepted. He helped me see that UA where was I needed to be and now look at all the blessings that have come from that? Example A: KAYLIE'S PARENTS ARE GETTING BAPTIZED ON SATURDAY!! What would have happened if the Lord didn't intervene? It would just be another ol' Saturday. So I am not too worried about you. My heart is at peace and I know it'll be okay. I feel as though the spirit was prompting me on Saturday when I started my fast. I felt strongly I needed to fast for my parents and you kept coming to mind. At first it was your health but as I continued to pray through out the day, it wasn't about your health, it was just for your well being. The spirit is cool like that. I will continue to pray for you and have full confidence this experience will only lead to bigger and better things! 

   So cool to hear about Meagan and Jensen. All I can say is Took em long enough!! Tell them I am happy for them, the Gilbert Temple is beautiful. Also So cool about mom's new car. I couldn;t see the picture so maybe you can attach it again. I'd love to see this! I'm glad everyone else is doing well, tell Shane to get out there and let all those girls fall in love with him! How's Amber? Did she get my letter? I hope she can take the lessons soon. I pray for here often. Also, did you get my letter? I sent one to you too. 

   Well this was a pretty good week! I went on an exchange with Sister DeMordaunt, the one from Idaho. She is also in the chinese work and it was SO fun! We went up to Simon Fraser University (SFU) and had 2 lessons in Mandarin. It went surprisingly well! I really like teaching chinese people without a native speaker because I can really see how the Lord has blessed me in learning this language. It still amazes me. We were able to contact up there too and we met a ton of chinese students! SFU is full of them! We found 6 new investigators and all but 1 was chinese. And let me tell you, they were flippin out seeing us speak chinese. It was hilarious! We went up to one guy and he wasn;t interested at all and then we asked him where he was from and he said china so I said "ni shi nali ren?" (Which part?) and he about did a back flip. We talked him in mandarin for another 10 minutes and he just kept laughing and I think he peed his pants a little. It was so funny! Hopefully he'll progress in the gospel and remember the 2 blonde girls who spoke mandarin haha

   This week on Wednesday we found out that our investigator, Echo, who is being baptized this Saturday, has to move to Richmond! We were so sad and didn't know what was going to happen. We met met with her Thursday and she said the night before she had prayed for Heavenly Father to help her find somewhere to live since she had one week to move. She said she prayed the night before for Heavenly Father to help her. Thursday morning she found a place. The Lord answered her prayer! She was so excited. She said coming to Burnaby (Hour and a half commute) to be baptized Saturday and confirmed Sunday shouldn't be a problem and after that we'll decide whether she'll keep coming to burnaby or go to the branch in Richmond. She is so ready! She has progressed so much and feels totally ready to be baptized this week. I am so excited for her! It also reminded me that Satan is trying really hard before someone gets baptized because he doesn;t want us to make that step back toward exaltation. I pray John and Lynn are doing well and that they can endure till Saturday because this is the best decision they will make in their whole lives. I will pray for them a ton this week!

   Also saw another miracle this week! One of our investigators got into some legal trouble last week and has been dealing with a lot. As we teach him the commandments he is struggling to understand why we have these commandments and he's not sure he is strong enough to obey once he goes back to China. He wants to follow Jesus Christ but didn't see why all these other rules go along with it. We shared scriptures with him and have been encouraging him a ton. Yesterday was fast Sunday and he came to church with his mom. About half way through testimony meeting we see him walk up to the front. Sister Lin and I panicked. We had no idea what he was going to say! I prayed so hard for him as he stood up. I don;t know why I worried because all I saw and heard was a humble son of God sharing His love for the Savior. He explained how he didn't know a lot about Jesus but after he met us on the street he started to understand more and last week when he made a really bad mistake, he knew he could turn to God. He explained that as he prays he can feel peace and truly feel God's love. My heart was so filled! I felt like he was my own son and I couldn;t be more proud. I was so thrilled. It reminded me that anyone can come unto Christ and this work brings more joy than ANYTHING! It's incredible! 

   Well those are just a few stories from the week! I love you and will pray really hard for you in the coming weeks. Saturday will be amazing! That'll be a memory on earth that we'll reflect on for the eternities. It still brings me SO much joy :) Please take pictures!! You're the best Dad! You can make it through this tough time, I promise!

  Love, Sister Emily Dahl

Senior couple from our ward going on their mission today to Taiwan!

Suki's twins

Note from March 3rd

Whether it's Wendy meeting missionaries and 10 years later having her family come to prepare Suki. Or it's Grace lsoing her job so she can become active again and we were able to meet Chico or it's me and kaylie both going to UA and taking the same classes, Heavenly Father has a plan for everyone. This gospel is so true and He is SO real! It's a greta day to share this message and it's a privilege to witness these miracles everyday. If we just step back for a moment and open our eyes we can see incredible miracles happening. Heavenly Father is amazing!

    Well all in all I am doing well! It gets better and better each week. It always amazes me how fast time goes here on the mission. I have been so incredibly blessed and I am growing so much in the process. The language is coming. Not too much progress this week, I still get nervous about not having a native speaker with me. I think that's just the Lord preparing me to not have one haha We'll see. 3 more weeks till transfers. Also in March 4 general Authorities are coming to our mission and one is an apostle! We don't know who yet but we'll know soon! It's going to be so amazing. I am so stoked.

   Well I love you and pray for you. i will send Poppy and Ganny a letter soon. I pray Poppy feels better. I am so excited for you to help ganny be sealed to her parents. Taht is awesome. I don't need too much right now. maybe some moremoney in my account? haha We're going to China tow today so next week will be really fun! I'll try to buy some little things for the fam. Did you ever get my Christmas package? I love you and pray for you! Thanks for the great email!

Love, Sister Emily Dahl

Note from February 24th

Dear Dad,

My heart reaches out to you today. I have been thinking a lot about you and Scott this week. I thought a lot about the Plan of Salvation and how the temple is such a central role in the plan God has for us. It really is so important to go to the temple and do that work for our family and friends.  Thank you for the letter he sent me. I will print that and treasure it always. it really touched my heart reading that again. I am grateful he took the time to send it to me and that you could use it at his service. I will continue to pray for you.

   

My week went well. I am still seeing so many opportunites to speak Spanish. Pretty much everyday last week I spoke to someone who spoke spanish. I am not exactly what the Lord has intended for me in this life but He wants me to speak the three most popular languages in the world. I loved what you said last week about me being able to use my Mandarin to be a missionary the rest of my life. I am really looking forward to hanging out with asians at U of A and inviting them to meet with missionaries. It'll be so fun. 

   

This week we met with one of our investigators and she is progressing so much. She has come to really believe in God and has sucha  drive to gain a testimony. You know God has prepared someone when they hear a commandment and think "Oh, that makes sense. Of course I will obey". It's incredible. Her baptismal date is March 16th but we're hoping to push it up a bit if we can. She loves church and has been growing a ton. It's meeting people like this that give me the drive to keep going. We talked to so many people this weekend in the snow and no one was willing to learn more. We walked miles and miles and no one wanted to listen. But when we meet with someone who is ready. It makes all that trudging in the snow worth it. It's worth leaving you all behind. It's worth crying for a month straight so I can learn how to tell them about Heavenly Father in the language they speak. It's all worth it when someone comes unto Christ.

   

I love you so much. I know this church is true. I have such a strong testimony of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I have truly come to know Him since being out here and I am so blessed to be a representative of Him. I am looking forward to the day I can thank Him in person and let Him know how much I truly love Him. Before my mission I never felt like I knew Jesus Christ. i knew what He did for me and that His sacrifice could help me but I didnt feel like I had a relationship with Him or that i could have one with Him. Since being on my mission, He has helped me in everyway possible. He's been with me every single step of the way. He is my Savior and Redeemer and He is truly my best friend. I will forever praise His name. 

   

I pray for you often and know that God loves you. Christ lives and He is all we need to get through in this life. Never forget how much He loves you!

Love, Sister Emily Dahl

 

Sisyer Lin's Birthday Cake

Sister Lin's birthday celebrated with Chen Popo

Note From February 17th

Dear Dad,

   

My heart reaches out to you as I email today. I couldn't stop the tears from coming as I read the news about Scott passing away. It causes me so much grief and pain to know that he's no longer with us. All I wanted was to see him again. He's been such a  great friend to you and the best adopted Uncle me and the boys could have asked for. I am so sorry Dad. I know that this time is so hard for you. I can't imagine the hurt you're experiencing at this time. I wish I could be there to give you a hug and just cry with you but I can't. I am just crying as I type.

Yesterday in Relief Society we had a lesson on Eternal Families. I felt the spirit so strongly as we discussed the eternal blessings we can have as a family. I think that Scott will be a part of that family. He didn't fully accept the gospel in this life, for what ever reason, but I don't doubt for a second that he knows Our Savior, Jesus Christ. And I am so happy to know that he still has the opportunity to accept those ordinances in the Spirit World. I think it will be a beautiful day when you're able to take his name to the temple. I hope that I will be able to join you on that special day (I'll be home in a year). I am so grateful for our family and the sacrifices everyone has made in my life time and in the past to allow me to have such an amazing family. I am so blessed to know we are all working our way to exaltation and we will be united as a family for eternity. There's nothing I would want than to be with those who matter most to me. I am praying for you dad and I will write you a letter today.

So this week went pretty well. I just want to share a quick miracle. So we were contacting on Tuesday night in our usual spot, where all the chinese are, and we were speaking to a man in Chinese. A woman came up to me and asked me where the casino shuttle comes and I could hear a spanish accent. I asked her where she was from and she said, "El Salvador" I felt prompted to try and speak spanish with her so I said, "Usted habla espanol?" She was so surprised that I could speak spanish. I explained to her I used to study spanish for many years but I forgot a lot because I am learning chinese. I told her I was a missionary and in broken spanish that we want to share more with her. She told me she believes in God and she loves Jesus. She started giving me her phone number and address before I could even ask. She said we could come over and share more. She was 79 years old but looked 60. She said her husband died 20 years ago and she has 7 or 8 kids. I was able to communicate with her! It wasn't my best spanish but Heavenly Father deifnitely blessed me with the Gift of Tongues. I understood so much and I was able to remember words and conjugate. the spirit was so strong as we spoke. The spanish sister were supposed to visit her so I need to call and ask what happened. It's moments like these that give me a stronger testimony of why i was called to canada. There are so many different people here and I can use English, mandarin and (broken) Spanish to share the gospel. The Lord really knows what He's doing!

We are seeing more and more investigators progressing and that is always a motivator to keep working hard. We're working hard and trying to fill our planners with lots and lots of appointments! and the Lord is sure filling em! I am pretty glad too because the weather lately has been ridiculous! haha It has been pouring all week and it's supposed to rain all this week. I am finally experiencing "Rain-couver" I am trying to stay happy even though I am wet haha. We are going to be able to see a lot more success in our ward because they added another set of sisters. We have 3 sets of elders and that makes 5 companionships total. The work is going to explode! We cover south Burnaby, New West, Coquitlam, Port Coqutilam and Port Moody. Then the other sisters cover north burnaby and all of Vancouver. We are hoping to see a lot more success!

 

I am grateful to be a missionary at this time. I go through trials all the time and I can feel Satan trying to creep in and bring me down in some way but I become stronger everyday. I am able to bear my testimony everyday and even though most don;t accept me or this message, it's the one that matters. President Tilleman says the best convert of our mission should be ourselves. I can really feel myself becoming converted unto the Lord. It's been a great 6 months and the Lord is going to work some miracles in the next year :) I love you and pray for you everyday. I will send a few more prayers your way this week and hope you can feel God's love for us. 

   

Love, Sister Emily Dahl

Chinese Food

Bad Haircut!

February 11th

Dear Dad,

   

Happy Family Day! I am glad to hear from you. It's kind of ironic that I can't even tell my family Happy Family Day on Family Day because the librarians like their holidays. It's good to hear everyone is well. I am happy to hear Shane and Kaylie finally met up. That picture of them looks pretty dang good. She picked a good outfit, she always broke hearts in her black and yellow haha 

Thank you for telling her to email me. It really was needed. I can't believe how incredible she is! She is such a missionary and has helped so many people come unto Christ! She told me about her friend Kevin who got baptized in December, then her experience doing baptisms for the dead. Then she told me about going to the temple open house with her parents and how they felt in the sealing room. She told me they are getting baptized in March. Tears just streamed down my face as I read her email. I can not even believe that so much has happened in the last year with her and her family! They are going to be sealed as a family for all time and eternity. My joy is so full! and the best part is I'll be home when they go to the temple. I never imagined so many blessings would come from inviting a friend to the institute. It makes all this work out here worth it to know that just by reaching the one, generations are effected. I'm still so touched and fighting back tears because I feel God's love so strongly. I feel SO privileged to know her and be a part of her life.

Pretty neat to hear about Coy, I hope he continues to do well. I'll write Amber next p-day, she seems really awesome. I'd love to help anyway I can. Matt just needs to call the missionaries and gitter dun! I'll pray for Brad and Lexi. It's tough in life sometimes but the Lord will bless Brad. He's just gotta keep enduring and praying like there's no tomorrow. I'll pray for mom. It seems like it's been a tough year for everyone at the new school. That's really unfortunate. (Btw tell gannny happy birthday! I sent a card this morning!)

So a little about this week. I am not getting transferred. Sister Lin and I have another 6 weeks together. I was pretty surprised but the Lord obviously wants us to stay together and keep learning from one another. Last week we had a few tussles. I cried like every night during my prayers and finally she brought it up. It's the darnest thing having a confrontation in Mandarin. I felt like we were crazy old chinese ladies you see on the street haha We're trying to work it out though. I love her as a person and I feel like we'll be friends for a long time but it's tough working with her sometimes. I am trying to hard to be patient and to humble myself and I feel like I've come a long way but we've still got a ways to go! It's not easy but we're working on it. Any suggestions? (you can ask the boys and mom to answer that question too).

We set a few more baptismal dates and are excited for March. We're trying really hard to reach the mission standards of excellence every week and we;re definitely seeing miracles. We attended Ward Council on Sunday and realized our ward needs a lot of help. Our bishop does not trust us at all. He just went through all the recent converts and named every single one who is now inactive. He doesn't have confidence in our ability to baptize members and then keep them there. It's tough. We have been thinking of ways to help and bless our ward more. I know you gave me some suggestions and we're doing that but anything else we can do? We really gotta get our retention rate back up.

Well I am doing pretty well. Ready for transfer #4! It's insane I've been doing this for 6 months. Only a year left, crazy! I imporve everyday and it's such a privilege to represent the Lord at this time. I'm being changed and becoming so much better. It's not an easy process but it'll be so worth it! We got our hair cut yesterday from a less active...it was a horrible experience. (see photo below) Tell Lindsay Rogers she needs to take the next flight up here a fix this disaster haha it was nice visiting our member but I didn't think I'd have to sacrifice that much! Hopefully it grows out quickly. Also, I got the Motor Vehicle Record and I got my drivers liscence. The worst part is they took my US Liscence! I was soo bummed! I'll have to get one as soon as I get back.

I am glad you're all well. I pray for you all the time! Keep sharing the gospel and keep on keepin on!

Love, Sister Emily Dahl

The dress I found at a thrift store.

Me and chen popo

Note from February 3rd.

Dear Mom,

   Sounds like your time in Cali has been fun! I am glad you were able to spend some time with Paula, Coy and Laci. How's coy doing? Still throwin hard? I am glad Shane has been talking to Kay Rae a little, is she still sick? I wrote her a letter last week and hope to hear back soon. Tell Shane to encourage her to some how communicate with me haha

I am not sure if we will get transferred. Looks like we're staying. Last week everyone one was saying I will train the new chinese sister coming in. The Sister Training Leaders thought so and many other chinese sisters but saturday night we saw President Tilleman at our ward's chinese New year Party and as he left we said "maybe we'll see you thursday at transfer meeting?" and he stopped and started thinking then said "no. I think you're both staying. Would that be okay? Are things going good?" This kind of threw me for a loop. I really thought a lot of changes were going to happen in the chinese areas but after that I think we're staying. We'll find out tonight for sure. I really love Sister Lin, she's taught me everything but I felt strongly the Lord was going to push me a little more. I felt like He was going to make me stretch but we'll see. Maybe I need another transfer with her. We get a long pretty well and have a ton of fun but we'll see.

  

So neat to hear about the Gilbert Temple. I am looking forward to going when I get back. Only another year, I've been out 6 months on Friday. Can you believe that? It's still boggling my mind. I'm a third done. and WOW, have I learned a lot! I know my time here is short so I am just trying to give it all I have. Sometimes I fall short but the Atonement works wonders :) Back to your questions about the temple, We get to go about every 3-4 months, if you're in the lower main land. We went a few weeks ago so a few more till I get to go again. It's in english. They have sessions in Mandarin every 2nd saturday of the month and tons of our members attend, it's great! The temple here is so small though! Dang it's tiny. 

   

This week I went on 2 companion exchanges. My favorite was with the Sister Training Leaders. I was with Sister Wright and she's completely white. Doesn't know a single word in mandarin and wow. That was a breath of fresh air haha It was super weird not being able to speak mandarin. Praying in english was so uncomfortable, I didn't know what to say! I just kept apologizing to Sister Wright because I felt like i was praying very well. It was neat to be with her though. I had so many opportunities to speak mandarin and she was pretty impressed. I could communicate with people and she said I spoke so fast! I didn;t miss a beat. It was really a cool blessing.

 
She was so kind to me and built up my self esteem a ton. Chinese people are not one's to compliment (at least Sister Lin isn't) and I think after 4 months of little to no encouragement kind of wore on me. Everything Sister Wright told me was so hard to believe. She just said I have this pure righteousness about me and people are just drawn to it. She said I just beam virtue and purity. She went on for days. I felt so special and full of worth. I feel like I sometimes forget some of my divine qualities since I'm not often praised here. (although you and Dad are really good at that) As I was on this exchange I learned so much and realized more about why I am in the chinese work. It has taught me so much, so quickly. It really has humbled me in a way I can't describe. I think sister Lin has blessed me a ton in that aspect and all the chinese people. It is amazing where I've come in the last 6 months.

   

Since that exchange we decided to try and take their advice of contacting as a companionship. Usually Sister Lin and I split up and try to have quality gospel conversations on our own but last night we tested it out. We found 5 new investigtors!!! It was incredible! We found 2 in chinese, one for us and one for the elders, then a couple for english. The man was someone I talked to about 2 months ago and I recognized his face, then remembered his name, his history, our whole conversation, it was crazy! The spirit is so cool in bringing things unto our remembrance! Then we found one for the Korean elders and all we needed was spanish. We said a pray that we could talk to somone in spanish. We kept walking up and down the street and finally we saw a woman on the street talking on her phone and she was speaking spanish! I stopped her and said "Nosotros estamos misioneras por la iglesia de jesucristo de los santos de los ulitmos dias" and I couldnt say anything else and she doesnt understand english so she wasnt very interested after that but Heavenly Father answered our prayer! It was a miracle! Sadly my spanish is a little rusty, too rusty so she'll have to have another opportunity to hear our mesaage. It was a great night overall, God blessed us so so much! And it was fun! 

   

Overall I am doing well. I was a little uneasy about what President said about transfers but I prayed really hard yesterday to feel peace. I told Heavenly Father that I didn't want to feel upset or unhappy in staying, I was willing to accept His will. And as I partook of the sacrament and listened to the testimonies of our ward, the peace came, just like it always does. I loved it. 

Please keep praying, I pray for everyone all the time and also Scott. I hope you enjoy your time with him and he can feel the love we have for him and his family. Tell him to Bear Down and give it to Christ. "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled , neither let it be afraid." (John 14:27) Tell Scott it'll all be okay. Christ knows how he feels and he is there to lift him up. "Let not your heart be troubled, niether let it be afraid" It's a commandment! I'm praying for him still and know he can kick this!

   

Hopefully we can chat a little more! I love you!

Love, Sister Dahl

My new Mission President and wife announced. President and Sister Burt.

Too tall! (January 27)

Suki's baptism (January 27th)

In Chinatown (January 27th)

Note from January 27th

你好!

   

So crazy to hear about Lenovo! That'll be interesting. Maybe they'll hire me when i get back as a translator or something! It's good to hear about Shane. he emailed me and told me Kaylie is sick. I will pray for her. I hate that she gets sick so much. Will you text her for me and tell her I love her and pray for her all the time. It kills me that someone so awesome has to suffer so much. That's usually how it goes though. 

I am sorry to hear Scott is struggling lately. I pray he enjoys the whales. Did you know I speak whale? hhhhooooooowwwwwww aaaaaarrrrrreeeeee yyyyooooouuuuuuu???? hahaha Just kidding. That'll be fun to head up to Cali. I hope Paula's team does well and Coy tears it up! :) Tell him to throw that cheddar. Shane is a stud. Miss him like crazy. The washer and dryer are legit! (My comp didnt get why I was so excited about the pic haha) So cool about the gilbert temple! Such an amazing missionary opportunity! I hope Ivan, Ron and amber have a great experience!

So I had a pretty great week. Transfers are coming and that's usually on the back of my mind. I have a feeling I'm going to get pushed even though I broke down on Saturday because I feel like i'm not doing enough. I wrote it out, made some plans and we're back on our feet again! I'll let you know what happens with transfers soon. I probably won;t go anywhere but Sister Lin might leave. We'll see. 

   

Anyways, Suki got baptized yesterday! It was such a special experience! She really has such a testimony of the gospel and went through so much to finally make this commitment. Her sister in law spoke and we all just cried. The spirit was so strong! Her two babies came too (see pics) and she is one step closer to our Heavenly Father. It was such a blessing to be a part of her journey. I have such a strong testimony now of member referrals. It makes all the difference in the world! We don;t have to worry about Suki at church because we know 10 women are in line to help her and she has her amazing sister in law too. We worry about our investigators that don't have a true friend. It a lot harder for them and for the members but I realized something yesterday.

   

Whether someone is a referral or not the gospel changes them. We have a recent convert named Alicia (my first baptism). We worry about her because she has not time/interest in meeting with us but she comes to scarament meeting every week, quickly to leave before classes. We feel like her testimony is small and we wan to help build it but don't quite know how. Yesterday she gave a talk in church and it just touched my heart. She shared how she came to be a member of the church and how we helped her know God. She shared an experience where she was struggling because she feels like her english is not improving. She had met with us and I explained to her my experience in learning chinese. I encouraged her to say her prayers in english and it will help her build her relationship with Heavenly Father and improve her english. I think she actually tried it! (Not sure if I understood right haha) It was so amazing to see that even though she is not fully grounded in the gospel, she does have a testimony and it's softening her heart and making her better.

   

On Friday we had a special opportunity to speak at Young Women New Beginning's. I spoke about the how Personal Progress can help us beome perfected in Christ (Moroni 10:32...Mutual theme 2014) It really was a blessing to ponder how PP blessed my life and helped me come to know my Savior. I shared with them my experience in baking the sacrament bread. I told them the bread didnt always taste good and was often doughy but it helped me realize the importance of the sacrament. It doesn;t matter what the bread taste like or if it cooked all the way. It has greater representation and it is so special and scared. It was such a neat opportunity to speak to them. They showed a video that made me cry and I hope you can show it to the youth. It is really powerful. This is the link https://www.lds.org/youth/video/come-unto-christ-2014-theme-song?lang=eng It made me ponder a lot about the strength we can recieve from our Savior and how His atonement really is personal and can help us in any type of hardship. Whether it's sickness or loneliness,  and bad relationship or an addiction to pornography, he can heal us. He just have to let Him in.

Well I am doing well. I am growing a lot and truly coming to know my Savior out here. i know what they mean when you really do become your best convert. I can feel myself coming unto Him. It's through the sorrow and pain that I am able to see how much my father in heaven truly loves me and cares for me. I pray everyone can feel this love. I pray you are well and the family is happy. Keep being a great example to everyone and be a missionary! 

    

I was wondering, what can i do to have a better relationship with our Bishop? Since you're a bishop of many years I'd be interested to see what advice you have. 

   

I'll pray for Poppy. Please keep me updated on his health. I pray I don't recieve a phone call from president anytime soon about this. I am so grateful they are able to go to the temple and do the work for Nanny. I was touched as I read that. That'll be so special. I love you! have fun in Cali!!

我爱你们, 

Sister Dahl

1. china town

2.suki's baptism

3. too tall!