Dear family,

 

One of the best things about being a missionary: we get to answer people's prayers! One of the members in our ward, Sister Ross, had prayed that she would be able to serve someone that day. She didn't know how the Lord was going to do it, because she was staying home alone all day. Then we showed up! We didn't have a dinner appointment, so she offered to whip something up. She told us afterwards that she had prayed for the opportunity to serve and that the Lord had given it to her. Isn't that so cool?? I know that God does answer prayers. Even if what we pray for is small :) I read Mosiah 26 today. "Alma was troubled in the spirit" because some of the people of the church had become wicked so "he went and inquired of the Lord." It was only "after he had poured out his whole soul to God" that "the voice of the Lord came to him." I just love this example. Prayer is not always easy. It requires our whole heart and soul, but if we can learn to pray, truly pray, than I don't think the devil will have even the slimmest of holds on us. Prayer is powerful. There is a great difference between the investigators that solely reads from the Book of Mormon and those who have coupled their study with prayer. The investigators, like Mona, who are praying and studying diligently are the ones who receive their answer.

 

Michael and Mona came to church for the third time in a row!! SO HAPPY. The whole ward has introduced themselves and I think that Michael and Mona are beginning to feel like they are a part of it. We finished teaching the Plan of Salvation this week, and Mona LOVES it. She says that it is what she has always believed, but she had just never seen it in writing until she read the Plan of Salvation pamphlet. She really loves that there are three kingdoms of glory. AHH! I just love them so much! We are planning to invite her to be baptized again this week, so please pray for her and for us!

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY POPS! You ole man you :) That t-shirt Lexi sent sounds hilarious! Unfortunately, my knowledge of guns and their variety is painfully minimal. Practically nil. So I might have missed a few of the jokes... Anyway I love you Dad! I hope you have a wonderful birthday. I am so grateful for all that you have done and continue to do for me. I admire you for the man you are and for the father that you have been. Mom sure picked a good one :) Te amo, Pai!

 

I love you all!

Sister Daniels

Dear family,

Well, I am sure this will come as a surprise to you, but I did not get
my visa. Which means (drum roll please) I will be in South Carolina
for at least six more weeks!!! I couldn't be more happy! I have been
praying for this all week! I just can't leave until Mona is baptized
and Michael is back into full activity. I have a work still here to
do!

Michael and Mona came to church again this week and stayed for all
three hours this time! Guys, I am so excited for them. SO EXCITED! I
just love them like crazy and it is so cool to see them change as they
learn and act on our message. It turns out that Mona has been talking
to Michael about being baptized! She was considering it before we even
invited her! Now, THAT is a golden investigator :) She says that she
wants to learn more first, before she commits to a date. We brought a
couple with us to a lessons and they totally hit it off! They are
really good friends now and Sister Combes keeps calling and inviting
Mona to different church activities. It is just so perfect!  The
Combes are introducing them to everyone in the ward and taking them to
their different classes. Member work is the way to go!

I am so excited for y'all's missionary bags! I am really proud of you!
It is the best way to do missioanry work. It really is. I like
tracting, but it just doesn't bring the same results. At least not
here in the states!

We were on "lock down" on Wednesday. I guess the weather must have
been pretty bad. We were fortunate and didn't lose any power or heat.
We spent the whole day inside and it was the LONGEST day of my
mission. I was just bored stiff! I did a lot of reading and studying
though, which was nice, but I learned that I would much rather go out
and work. I guess I've changed a bit. Maybe I won't want to stay in
and read and read anymore, Pops. Maybe.... :)

I was reading the "Fourth Missionary" again. It said, "...the critical
question is 'Who are you and who are you becoming?'" As I pondered
this, I had the hardest time coming up with an answer! Honestly, I
don't really know who I am anymore! My personality seems to be
changing all the time. Things I thought were a concrete part of who I
am--or at least thought that I was--don't really apply to me anymore!
And yet other times I feel like I haven't changed at all and that I am
still the same old me with the same old weaknesses. I just can't
figure it out. I've asked every companion what their perception is of
me and every single one says something different. ????
 If you had to describe me, what would you say? Y'all have to know me
better than anyone! I have a feeling that I am just going to have to
figure it out, but it would be nice to have your input!

I love you all and pray for you all the time!
Love,
Sister Daniels

Dear family,

This has been an amazing week! Michael, the less-active that we have been working with and his wife, Mona, came to church! Dorothy, another investigator, also came! It was such a tender mercy from the Lord. This area hadn't had an investigator come to church for months and we had two in one day! SO HAPPY! We brought one of our ward missionaries to a lesson with Michael and Mona and it was just incredible! His testimony was so strong and it just pierced Michael's heart. It was so cool to see Michael's cynicism and hesitation completely melt away. He felt the Spirit. I know he did and I think it might have been the first time in his life that he has actually recognized it. I just know that Michael is going to come back into full activity. I just know that Mona is going to be baptized. I pray for it constantly. I've never wanted anything so badly in my whole life. I just hope that the Lord will let me be there for that happy day! 

I know that we always say that families can be together forever. I've sung about that principle since Primary. We talk about it in probably every church meeting. It is included in everyone's testimony. I knew it in my mind, but I did not know it in my heart until this week. We were talking to someone who said that although her religion did not teach this, she felt that her family was in someway connected and that when she died they would all be there to welcome her into heaven and that they would be a family again. In that moment, it clicked. The phrase, "Families can be together forever," made it from my head to my heart in a matter of seconds. I bore my testimony to her about temples and how we can be together forever. It was one of the strongest and truest testimonies I have ever said. I know that we will be together forever. I know that the love that we have for each other and the bonds that we have forged is more powerful than the bonds of death, because of Christ and of the temple. I am so grateful that you were married in the temple and that you are both still worthy to go to the temple. I love you so much and am so grateful for your example!

We are going to downton Charleston today with Dorothy. I am so excited! Unfortunately, I cannot find my camera's battery charger. I am abslutely devastated that I won't get pictures of this...I know this is a huge burden, but could you send me another one? There is so much I want to document!

I am just so happy! I really just love my life. I love feeling the Spirit all the time. I love that I get to witness others feel the Spirit too and watch it prick their hearts. It is incredible. I love you all and I am so grateful that we can be together forever.

Love,

Sister Daniels

Tell Brittany congratulations! That is so exciting! When does she go to the MTC?

 

Since last Sunday was Stake Conference, yesterday was my first Sunday in my new ward. I love it! The people here have really taken the "hastening the work" message from our prophet to heart. They are asking to come out with us and are even giving us the names of their family and friends who may be interested! It is a relatively young ward. Most of the people here are dental or medical students and have young families. It is so very different from my last little elderly branch. I am just so happy to be here. I love Charleston and want to move back here! You should retire here, Pops :) There is a family here, the Michaelsons, who remind me so much of our family! The Dad is on the high council and the mom is the Relief Society president. They also have four kids, two boys and two girls. They also have a son who is my age out on a mission and get this..He is a Brazil visa waiter too! MIND BLOWN.

 

We actually had SNOW! We couldn't drive, since there was ice on the road. The good news is that no one else could travel either! Since everyone was home, we got to meet a lot of people and some invited us to come back and teach them. I am really excited for an Argentinian that we met. Her name is Eugenia. <--- The spelling of which is a little iffy. At first she wasn't interested, but we were just friendly and kept talking to her. She has recently gone through a divorce and it has really shaken her faith in Christ. We helped her bring in logs for a fire and she opened up a lot. She said that we were welcome back anytime and that we could share a message with her! Her name keeps coming to my mind and I think that is the Lord's way of showing me that she is ready now and that I better not forget about her!

 

This week was a veritable roller coaster. We had ups and downs. I am the senior companion now and I am feeling the pressure! It is a lot of responsibility and sometimes I think the weight of it all will just about crush me. Sometimes I feel like I am really just not cut out for this, and yet there are other times I feel like I was exactly who I needed to be for that person and that time. I know that God puts us in different situations to learn and to grow, but it is often a very difficult process! I know that He is strenghtening me though. He really is. I couldn't do this, if He wasn't. I look back at the girl I was in high school and try to imagine her out here and I don't think she would have made it. I know with absolute assurance that God will qualify us for the work He has called us to perform. 

 

I love you all! I hope your heater starts working Dad! I appreciate the scroll. I really love those. I also loved your story of Chrissy. So funny! Good luck with school Mom. I know conversions are sometimes a little tricky, but once it clicks you will have it forever. I love that idea of a veil that covers the imperfections and sins of others. So true! 

 

Love, 

Sister Daniels