Dearest family,

This is the first week of my last transfer. I honestly don't know how I feel right now or what I should be feeling. It all feels a bit surreal. (sp?)  My companion is going home and I will be getting a new companion tomorrow, so maybe it will all feel a little more real then.

We had such a miraculous week! Yesterday we watched the Christmas devotional at a part-member's home, the Lynches. They are awesome and invited us over for Christmas! Anyway, Brother Lynch is less-active but he came to church yesterday and brought his two daughters! They love church, especially Primary. Sister Lynch isn't a member and doesn't have much of a religious background. I think the biggest thing holding her back is fear. She is always willing to listen to us when we come over to visit and has opened up a lot more recently, so hopefully we will be seeing some progress soon! I really love this family. Brother Lynch has a bigger than life personality so the lessons are always interesting... Ha!

We also saw Catelyn twice this week. She is so cute. She made herself a "Mormon folder" that she decorated with quotes from the prophets and apostles that she got off of Pinterest. She is progressing really well. One of the Young Women that we have been bringing to lessons with us bore her testimony on Sunday about how much she has loved coming to these lessons and how much it has impacted her life. She wants to go on a mission now! It just feels so good to see the impact that the spirit can have and the missionary lessons are just so powerful! I can't imagine not having that on a daily basis. I take it for granted-- the Spirit that we feel in lessons. I can't explain what it feels like. I don't have the words, but I don't ever want to give that up. I know that I will be a visiting teacher after this, but I don't know if it will ever be the same again. I don't want to lose the charity I feel for people. I don't want to go back to where I judged someone based on what they looked like or what they wear. I want to keep the missionary spirit with me for always! I think if I keep up the pattern of scripture study, prayer, and going out with the missionaries that it won't go too far from me! I just love being a missionary. I really do. Easily the best decision I have ever made.

We had MLC (Missionary Leadership Council) this week. I love working so closely with President and Sister Turner. I look up to them a lot. They are revolutionizing the culture of the mission and I just love the changes they are making. I wish this had happened earlier!! It's fun yet stressful to put these changes into action. We also have to deliver the changes to our zone in a way that they understand it and get excited about it. It's a great growing opportunity. For sure!

I love you all! I got the Christmas package, but I'm waiting for Christmas to open them! That was the biggest stocking I have ever seen in my life!! I guess I've been more nice than naughty this year :)

Love

Sis D

Sister Rankin! We visit her in the nursing home. She is a gem and prides herself on being "young at heart." She had a birthday party and we were the youngest in attendance by probably 40 years

Dearest family,

Happy thanksgiving to you all!! It's a little late, I know :) Sister Robinson and I had a really nice Thanksgiving. We went over to the Maurers and to the Smiths, both of whom had homemade pumpkin pie. So I would consider it an enjoyable and successful Thanksgiving :) Something that they don't tell you at the MTC when you get your missionary tag is that along with setting you apart and making you official, it also is your ticket to be a socially acceptable moocher. (The spelling on that might be a little iffy) People feed us dinner, buy us groceries, give us rides, invite us to crash in on their holidays, etc. I really struggled with it at the beginning of my mission and just wanted to pay everyone back, and it has been a very humbling experience to learn how to accept service. I've had to learn how to take on my mission, when I thought I would be giving for 18 month! Service-both in the giving and the taking- forge deeper relationships and I think it's one of the reasons people just love the missionaries so much and why we love the ward!

Catelyn is progressing really well. We taught her the Plan of Salvation (she LOVED it) and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We came to a baptism on Saturday, and it helped her a lot knowing what her baptism would be like too. She also came to church on Sunday and really loved Young Women's. The Greenville stake is doing trek in a couple weeks and Catelyn wants to participate desperately. I just don't know what to think of this girl! She is so prepared. She has invited all her family and extended family to her baptism and all her friends at school! She is teaching them all about the Book of Mormon, too! She loves the Book of Mormon. She reads every chapter we give her and always has highlights and notes and questions to talk about when we come back. I feel like the Lord is just blessing Sister Robinson and I for all our hard work throughout our missions with Catelyn. I have never met anyone who just understands the gospel. She loves the idea that she has found the straight and narrow path and never wants to leave it. AHHH!

I gave a talk yesterday in sacrament meeting about charity. I didn't get nervous at all for it, which is really weird for me. I didn't write out the talk, but had a notecard with the barest of outlines on it. I really wanted to speak from the heart and let the Spirit guide the talk, and it worked really well! I felt the Spirit so strong the whole time and felt like it was literally telling me exactly what to say. Coolest thing! I learned so much in the preparation for the talk. I reflected on all the many companions that I've had and how some we got along so well and the love came so easy and that for others it was so much more difficult. My mission had helped me know how to love and how to accept love and how to treat the people I love. I feel shame whenever I think about that selfish girl in high school! Thank goodness we can repent and change.

Anyway, I love you all! SO SO MUCH! I am excited to be reunited soon!

Love

Sister Daniels

Side note:  Wanna know what's really cool? During the end of the talk, I looked over at Sister Smith and she gave me the cheesiest grin and two thumbs up just like you used to do! When I talked to her afterwards, she said that she normally doesn't do that but just felt like she should this time! It was such a blessing because it almost felt like you were there with me! (tender mercies)

Dear family,

 

This week was much better than last week! Still entirely overwhelmed, but I don't feel like I'm sinking. We had two exchanges this week too and they went really well. I even got to go to institute! One of the companionships we are over works on Clemson University, so we got to walk on campus to the institute room. Oh my goodness did I love being on a campus again. The institute room was in the library, so I was in heaven. There was some recent converts attending institute and they blew me away with their comments. They sounded like they had been members forever! The work is progressing!

 

We also had a service opportunity this week! We got to to go to the Senior Service Center and help serve and host the Thanksgiving lunch they were putting on for the seniors in the community. Elderly people are a hoot, let me tell ya. One guy excitedly proclaimed, "I've got the Mormon girls serving me!" I also had an interesting conversation with a lady who told me never to get married as men were nothing but overbearing. She was the sassiest little thing. We got to meet a lot of people and it softened the hearts of many there. We had a really good conversation with one of the volunteers there about what we do as missionaries. She plans on volunteering there more often and we do to so hopefully something can develop from it!

 

The highlight of the week was Catelyn Henry. She is a 15 year old girl who referred herself on mormon.org. She is seeking for truth and wants to learn about all different religions. Well, we taught her the Restoration and she said something like, "I can't believe the first religion I tried is the true one!" She's agreed to be baptized on December 20th!! She came to stake conference yesterday and has a bunch of questions. She's an inquisitive one for sure and so smart. She's planning on going to Harvard and I can't believe how fast she soaks up the information. She just understands it so easily. Her parents aren't religious but support her and even drove her to stake conference. Her mom will sit it on the lessons so we hope that the Spirit will touch her too! We are teaching them the Plan of Salvation tonight, so please pray that all will be well!

 

I love you all so much!! Have a very happy Thanksgiving!!!

Love,

 Sis D

Dearest family,

 

So much has happened this week and I don't know where to start... We had TWO exchanges this week and it wore me out. I haven't been this stressed or felt this inadequate in a long time. It's been hard. The area and the ward are really big and I am struggling to learn it as fast as I need to. Because we have so many exchanges, I'm not in my area a lot of the time and I fear I will never learn it or develop relationships with my investigators or the members here. I am tired. I feel like I am running on fumes and could probably sleep for three days straight at this point. But on the plus side, I really enjoy getting to know the other sisters and they have taught me some important lessons! On the second exchange of the week, Sister Ramstedt came to Simpsonville with me.  We laughed for almost the entire exchange. It was fun and we worked hard and it was exactly what we needed. Whenever I feel like the Lord has asked too much from me or that the task is just too great, He always sends help. 

 

We had another lesson with the Klingers. They invited us and the Pooles over for dinner and we had Cuban beans and rice (it reminded me so much of your rice and beans, Pops!). We taught them the Plan of Salvation and it was amazing to see how their faces lit up when they learned about eternal families and eternal marriages. So powerful. Brother Klinger, especially, wants to believe it is true. They have committed to reading the Book of Mormon and praying about it! We will hopefully see them both on Wednesday of this week and on Sunday! Sister Robinson and I did some service for them this week too which was a lot of fun. I helped Sister Klinger paint her hallway and Sister Robinson (the artist and painting major) is painting a tree mural on their wall. It is a great way to develop a relationship with them and to really get to know them! It is cool to see the Lord using Sister Robinson's talents to further the work! She is elated!

 

I love you all SO much and I miss you!

Love,

Sis D 

Dearest family,

 

So much has happened this week and I don't know where to start... We had TWO exchanges this week and it wore me out. I haven't been this stressed or felt this inadequate in a long time. It's been hard. The area and the ward are really big and I am struggling to learn it as fast as I need to. Because we have so many exchanges, I'm not in my area a lot of the time and I fear I will never learn it or develop relationships with my investigators or the members here. I am tired. I feel like I am running on fumes and could probably sleep for three days straight at this point. But on the plus side, I really enjoy getting to know the other sisters and they have taught me some important lessons! On the second exchange of the week, Sister Ramstedt came to Simpsonville with me. We laughed for almost the entire exchange. It was fun and we worked hard and it was exactly what we needed. Whenever I feel like the Lord has asked too much from me or that the task is just too great, He always sends help. 

 

We had another lesson with the Klingers. They invited us and the Pooles over for dinner and we had Cuban beans and rice (it reminded me so much of your rice and beans, Pops!). We taught them the Plan of Salvation and it was amazing to see how their faces lit up when they learned about eternal families and eternal marriages. So powerful. Brother Klinger, especially, wants to believe it is true. They have committed to reading the Book of Mormon and praying about it! We will hopefully see them both on Wednesday of this week and on Sunday! Sister Robinson and I did some service for them this week too which was a lot of fun. I helped Sister Klinger paint her hallway and Sister Robinson (the artist and painting major) is painting a tree mural on their wall. It is a great way to develop a relationship with them and to really get to know them! It is cool to see the Lord using Sister Robinson's talents to further the work! She is elated!

 

I love you all SO much and I miss you!

Love,

Sis D 

Dearest family,

 

So much to say and I don't know where to start! We had MLC (missionary leadership council) this week. All the zone leaders and the sister training leaders get together with President Turner and talk about the needs of the nmission and how to implement new ideas or policies, etc. It was cool to see how President Turner conducts these meetings. It is basically a five hour open discussion. He really takes our thoughts and ideas into consideration, which I think is really neat but a lot of pressure too. With a new mission president, the mission culture is changing a lot. I think President Turner is exactly what this mission needed! Anyway, we took what we learned at MLC and did a training at ZTM about it. It was harder than I thought it would be to really convey all that the president had talked about, and I hope we managed it!

 

We had the COOLEST miracle happen this week. The Pooles have been sharing the gospel with their neighbors for almost three years. On Sunday, they invited us over to their home to teach the first lesson and have dinner with their neighbors! This is the first time on my whole mission that a member has referred a friend and actually been involved in the teaching process. This is what missionary work is supposed to be like! It just got me so excited to be a member missionary! At first I was nervous about having a dinner before the lesson, but it actually worked out really well. It broke the ice and got the Klingers comfortable with us. When we started teaching the Restoration, the Spirit was so powerful, especially during the first vision. Brother Poole bore such a strong testimony about eternal families. The spirit was leading the whole lesson and I just knew what I needed to say and when. We are going to start teaching them all the lessons and the Klingers all agreed to read the Book of Mormon, pray about it, and in essense to investigate the church. Brother Klinger thinks Joseph Smith was called to be a prophet! He has been thinking about baptism a lot and has talked to Brother Poole about it. They both said they would "absoluely" be baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints if they find it to be true! They are so elect and so prepared! I am really excited. We are also going to start to help Sister Klinger paint her house, so hopefully that will help deepen our relationship with her! I just feel like the Lord blessed both Sister Robinson and me with this miracle to teach us at the end of our missions what we need to do when we go home. I need to develop relationships with people who are not members. It is going to be way hard, especially in Provo, but I am going to try! It took the Pooles three years of just being their friends before they got interested in the church. So my challenge for y'all is to make some nonmember friends!!! Just think of the difference we can make in the lives of not only our friends but for their posterity for years to come! It really strengthens the members too. Sister Poole just started to cry during the whole thing and thanked us profusely afterwards. AHH! I am so happy! 

 

 

We had a less-active come to church, Brother Lynch. He brought his two daughters, and it was the perfect Sunday for them because it was the Primary program. The theme was "Families Can be Together Forever" and it was exactly what he needed to hear. His wife isn't a member but will let us talk to her every time we go by and I think this program will show him how much he needs this for his entire family. He even whispered to his daughters, "Next year you'll be up there too," and then he said he was going to get them some Books of Mormon!!! We have seen so many blessings lately!!

 

Something that our mission is emphasizing is teaching the members the missionary lessons too! We've taught four active-members the Restoration in the last couple weeks and we've got quite a few referrrals from it! It also brings a special spirit into the home and we've had people tell us that they just love when we come over because of the spirit we bring and that it STAYS. So my other challenge for y'all (I've got quite a few this week!)  is to invite the missionaries to teach the Restoration for FHE. It is hard for missionaries to get lessons from 8-9pm so that would be the perfect time to invite them over to teach it. I'm sure the missionaries will be more than happy to do it!

 

I love you all dearly! I love being a missionary and I love that I will always be a missionary!

Love,

Sister Daniels

Sis ta'ala gave Morgan a lava lava

Sister Clarks Giraffe onesie that they all took turns wearing.

Sister Robinson and Morgan having a hot chocolate 

 

Dearest family,

 

Oh my goodness. This has been the most stressful week! On Wednesday, we went to the transfer meeting. I can't describe how it feels at these meetings. All nervous anticipation. Anyway since I knew I was going to be a sister training leader, I had two options: Sister Robinson in Greenville zone and Sister Hart in Lexington. When Sister Robinson's picture came up and before they announced her new companion, I knew she was going to be my companion. Spirit confirms truth. Anyway, it is going to be crazy because she is going home next transfer and I will be going home the transfer after that! It's going to be hard to learn the area that quickly and then teach it to a new companion just as quickly! But I am just going to have to do it! I am serving in Simpsonville 2nd ward, which is in the upstate. I am really excited since I've never served in the upstate! They even have "mountains"! Although they are more like hills when compared to the Rockies... The area is in a bit of a slump. They don't have any investigators right now, but they do have a lot of less-actives that are returning to full-activity. Sister Robinson is very unique. She's a vegetarian and loves Whole Foods and hard candy. She's an artist and was studying painting at BYU Hawaii. She's whipping me into shape! We've done a Jillian Michael's workout video every day this week and I just feel so much better! I LOVE teaching with her. She always has such wonderful insights and I feel the Spirit so strongly. Teaching with her comes really easy. We've only been together for five days and yet we teach so seamlessly together. Such a blessing considering the short time I will be with her!

 

We taught ten less-actives this week and many came to church! One lady is less-active due to health. Her name is Sister Rankin and she is a hoot! She lives in the nursing home, which we biked to btw. It was all uphill (so as I'm sure you can imagine: my love and admiration for these mountains dimmed significantly). We got there just in time! She needed help mailing her Halloween cards and since she has Parkinsons

we sped up the process quite a bit. We helped her get everything done and then we wheeled her down the hall to the mail drop off. She kept saying, "Faster, faster!" She rewarded us by getting dressed up in her Halloween costume!

 

Gosh, I love the people here! This area has so much potential and I just want to get to work!

I love you all so much!

Love Sis D