HAPPY BIRTHDAY BLAKE AND CADEN!!!!!!!!! I can't believe you are 14 years old already. Geez, you all are getting old. You best not be taller than me by the time I get home :)

 

Actually scratch that.. You boys need to grow! Also, make sure you learn where to put your hands when you dance with girls. HINT: under her armpit is NOT CORRECT. That happened to me once and those kind of things leave their mark. Just kidding. Well kinda...

 

Anyway. I love you! And I am excited to hear about your upcoming adventures!!

 

This week was a bit crazy. Due to car troubles (our car stalled at an intersection and is now in the shop), we have been driving the mission van and now are driving the mission bus. It is a monster and can seat 12! Sister Mendenhall would be so proud :) Anyway it is BIG and white and impossible to miss when we park it on the side of the road to knock. Oh the looks we have received.... No wonder the usual missionary vehicle for this mission is my beloved Toyota Corolla!!

 

We had exchanges this week. I got to be with Sister Brown, my trainer! And oh my goodness did we have fun! There was no longer any training stress so we just laughed the whole time! It was great. Also, we teach really well together. We've had a lot of practice after all and it felt like old times. We knew exactly when the other was done speaking and when to start again. It was just seamless. The first person we really taught on the exchange was Sister Cavanaugh, a less active. She has been a member for two years, but due to bouts of depression she has a hard time getting things pulled together to go to church. Anyway we focused a lot about the sacrament and how it brings light and strength to our lives. We read the sacrament prayers with her and the Spirit that was in the room was so strong. I felt so much love for this darling sister although we had barely met.

 

We also met some Jehovah's Witnesses, which is always an interesting encounter. We were talking to the wife first and it started out pleasant, but then we started introducing the Book of Mormon and she very adamantly states that the Book of Mormon is not an inspired book. Dagger to the heart, right?!? Well, Sister Brown politely aksed, "Oh, have you read it?" In which she responded in the negative. Of the ignorace of men! We make judgements without trying to understand. Then we talked to the hudband and it seems like he jut launched into their first lesson! He was going on and on about Armageddon and who knows what else. During his barage of words mingles with Bible verses, I didn't feel the Spirit at all. Not in the slightest. They are good people, but they try to prove they are right with logic and evidence, but they don't understand the Spirit or its role in conversion. It was such a stark contrast to the lesson we had recently had with Sister Cavanaugh and such a confirmed my conviction that this is God's church.

 

I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!

Sister Daniels

Dearest family,

 

Things in Dutch Fork are going GREAT! One of the less-actives that we met with this week came to church! His wife is an active and endowed member, but he has been inactive for awhile now. They also brought their niece, Migella, who isn't a member. She's Roman Catholic and is from Mexico, but is visiting for the summer. She's seventeen so she went to Young Womens. I think she liked it a lot :)

 

We found an old, white couple from Zimbabwe who had some cool acents. They weren't interested in the church but asked quite a few questions about us-our lives and plans. People are always fascinated by that for some reason. Probably because we are a "peculiar people" and what not :) We knocked on their neighbors and met a darling old lady who was born in Guatamala. She let us in immediately. She said that she is Catholic and plans to remain so, but she loves to learn especially if it has something to do with Jesus Christ. We introduced the Book of Mormon but she had a question about Christ visiting those in hell for the three days before the resurrection so we explained about the spirit world and about the plan of salvation. She enjoyed it thoroughly and is very exited for us to come back this week. She said her neighbor had recently committed suicide and she was worried about her attaining salvation but our message had comforted her. It is so cool because Sister Borgholthaus had already knocked that street before I came to Dutch Fork, but we felt prompted to do it again. I know that God is leading this work! I LOVE teaching the plan of salvation. Every time I do I am just amazed at the love there is behind it. The plan of salvation is set up for us to suceed. It is tipped in our balance. God gives us so many chances.

 

We did a service activity this week. We went over to Sister Kirby's {an elderly lady in the ward} and helped her to get her garage/dog house up and running. We were in charge of digging a FOOT deep trench from the garage to the electrical panel. NOT an easy job. The ground was mostly clay and really hard to get through. You would think with shoulders as wide as mine that I would have some upper body strength, but alas that is not the case...Sister Borgholthaus and I made slow progress, but the Elders came and sped the process up. It was kinda embarrassing, not gunna lie. On the plus side, I've started to run again. We had a pond behind our house with this delightful trail. So hopefully, I can get into a little bit better shape :)

 

The speaker in sacrament meeting said something that I really loved. He said," I don't like the word problem. I believe a problem is simply a challenge with the opportunity to suceed."  Isn't that cool?! It's a shift in attitude. A "problem" or challenge or trial allows us to grow in ways we never would have otherwise. I've started to keep a gratitude journal and I write down something I am grateful for every day and a lot of the time the things that I am grateful for are "problems" and yet it is the lessons that I learned from it that made it such a blessing.

 

Anyway.

 

I LOVE YOU!!!

Sister Daniels

Dear family,

I hope the family is doing okay! I've been praying for them a lot. Of course, I am worried about you Pops! You sounded so tired and sad on the phone. I've been praying especially hard for you. I really like the last verse in Enos. It is once of my favorites and I think it applies perfectly to Grandpa. Enos had a good relationship with God. He talked with Him and felt the joy that comes from repentance. The Holy Ghost had given him a foretaste of eternal life and He looked forward to the day when He would see God. Verse 27 says, "And I soon go to the place of my rest, which is with my Redeemer; And I rejoice in the day when my mortal shall put on immortality and shall stand before him; then shall I see his face with pleasure, and he will say unto me: Come unto me, ye blessed, there is a place prepared for you in the mansions of my Father. Amen." I don't know if this helped you or not but it helped me. I believe Grandpa is the same way and that he will see God's face with pleasure since he knew the Master he served.

We had some pretty cool miracles happen this week. We went a knocking and planned to do so for at least two hours. The first house we knocked-the very first!- turned out to be a member of our church! She isn't on our records. Crazy, right? She seemed genuinely excited to see us and let us into her home immediately. She is a convert and is from BRAZIL! Seriously, how does this keep happening?! Her English is really good although her accent is pretty thick. Her husband is a returned missionary and they met in the YSA ward here. She invited us to come back anytime so we are going to start working with her. It was such a testimony to me that the Lord is aware of all of His children. He knows where they are, even if the church doesn't. The timing was perfect. We had been in that neighborhood a couple of days prior but really felt like we needed to be somewhere else. So when we came back we found her and discovered that she usually isn't home at that time but she was waiting for a fridge to be delivered so we met her. How cool is that??

Another cool miracle happened right before dinner. We had about an hour so we decided to knock around the Aiken's house. The very first house we knocked WE GOT IN! This just doesn't happen in this area! It has only happened twice since I've been here so we were pretty much stoked. Her name is Allison Grecko and she is the epitome of a true Christian. She let us in immediately and was so curious to know more. We introduced ourselves and explained what an LDS missionary does. We also introduced the Book of Mormon. The spirit that was in the room was so very tangible. We bore such fervent testimonies and I know she felt it. She was so excited to get a Book of Mormon that she hugged me!! I just hope she reads it and that she will allow it to touch her heart. The Book of Mormon can do wonders, and I think it will be the key for Allison.

Sister Aiken is the one who sent you that picture of us dressed up like cows to get a free dinner at Chick-Fil-a. I am so impressed with their family. They have two sons out on missions. One gets home in six months and the other just left. They are so missionary oriented! I have never seen anything like it. Eli, one of the sons, has brought people to church, gone on a 24 hour exchange with the Elders and goes out with them all the time. He has even gotten one of his friends to take the lessons! Cooper, the other son, is writing a girl who he has dated forever. She wants to be baptized, but is scared to tell her Methodist family. She goes to church though! In her YSA ward and even attends institute. She has taken all of the lessons too an could be baptized any day now, but she wants to wait for Cooper to get home :/ Sister Aiken talks to everyone she meets about the church. I just admire them so much. They have taught me what it means to be a member missionary!

On Sunday, one of the members who we have been working with and who is coming back to church pulled us aside and said that he thinks his wife is going to leave him and wanted advice and comfort. He looked so completely dejected and I had no idea what to say. Clearly, as a sister missionary I have never been married so my ability to empathize was severally limited. It is always amazing to me that people trust us enough to tell us their struggles. At first, I didn't understand why. I am young and have seen very little of the world and don't have a great deal of life experiences to draw upon. So why us? Then I realized something that anyone with an iota of brain power would have realized a long time ago: it is because of His name that we wear. We represent Him. People trust that He guides us in what we do and say. They really don't want to hear what I have to say, but what their Savior has to say.

I love you all!

Sis Daniels

Thank you SO much for the care packages, handwritten letters, AND emails. I feel so blessed! Definitely feeling the love, so thank you!! The best thing about being this close to the mission office is we get our mail the very day it comes in! No more long waits :) I love the journal and have turned it into my gratitude journal. I am writing one thing I am grateful for every day. I think this will help me see the tender mercies and small miracles that I receive every day. I LOVE the bracelet you made, Lou! My companion did too :)

 

We got to meet President and Sister Turner this week. Sister Turner is hilarious and President Turner has this dry sense of humor that I just love. They both seem overwhelmed, which is understandable. There isn't exactly a how to book to be a mission president and it is probably very different from anything else they have ever done. They are really humble about the whole thing and have such an earnest desire for the work and to magnify their calling. We had interviews with President Turner yesterday. I was the fourth one he ever did! It was more of a get-to-know-you meeting rather than the typical interview. We talked a little bit about the whole visa/mission change thing, but the thing that stood out to me the most was what he said at the end. He said, "You seem very happy." And he seemed kind of suprised and relieved to find me so. I hadn't really thought too much about it, but his comment made me realize that I am happy. I am very, very happy. I am a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints! You bet I'm happy!  I get to be a missionary and do hard things and develop relationships with people I wouldn't have been able to meet otherwise. I get to hear the testimonies of members and nonmembers alike and share my own every day. I am loved by Sister Borgholthaus, Clark, and Derrick. I have the love and support from you all. And most importantly I feel like my Father in Heaven is proud of me. I was reading this morning in 2 Nephi 5 and I found this little gem. Verse 27 says, "And it came to pass that we lived after the manner of happiness." I just love that concept. I am living after the manner of happiness.

 

Sorry this email is such a short one! I just want you to know that I love y'all. A lot. "3 cubits and a span" lot :)

Love,

Sister Daniels

Dear family,

 

We had transfers this past Wednesday. I am now serving in Dutch Fork ward (Irmo is the city), which is right by the mission president. He is only about ten minutes away! I hope that means I will be able to get to know the new mission president really well. President Turner comes in today and is doing a "President's Tour" throughout the mission. We should be meeting him on Thursday. He is an English major; I am so psyched! I hope he quotes a gazillion books :)

 

My new companion is Sister Borgolthaus. She is CRAZY! But I love it! She talks a million miles an hour and has the most entertaining stories. Her life needs to be made into a movie. She has lived all over the world. A few of the places are Bangladesh, Chad (Africa), London, Cambodia, and Ireland. Basically, she has visited or lived in every place except China, Rome, and Brazil. She is way good for me, because she is going to demolish any comfort zone I have left :)

 

We also live with another set of sisters, Sister Derrick and Sister Clark. Sister Derrick is basically my twin. We like all of the same things, especially in the book department. She is training Sister Clark who just came into the field this week. She doesn't even act like a new missionary! She is awesome and we are having a BLAST! This is the first time that I've been able to live with another companionship and I love it. We also live with a senior missionary, Sister Barlow. She is darling and works in the office.

 

The Dutch Fork ward is very different from my previous areas. There is very few less-actives. In fact, it has the highest percentage of actives in the whole state of South Carolina! So we work mostly with active members and the people we have found knocking. It is also the most wealthy area that I've served in yet. Most of the houses are HUGE and everyone lives on the lake, so they all have docks and boats and other such things. It is a very pretty area and I love it!

 

We found out yesterday that there is a girl who isn't a member, but has been coming to church with her husband. She is Brazilian and speaks very little English! Her husband is a member and grew up in Brazil, but will soon be leaving for Harvard soon. Anyway, we hope that we will be able to teach her! Maybe this is why I learned Portuguese! I don't think I have ever spoken to a native Brazilian so I hope I am able to understand her even with the accent.

 

I love you all! I am so proud of you Lexi for being a missionary. That is awesome! I actually do have a lot of pictures to send to you all, but the computers in this new area won't let me. I think I'll print some off at Wal-mart and send them to you that way though.

 

The church is true. God is our Heavenly Father and this is His work. These things I know!

Love you,

 Sister Daniels

Dear family,

President Holm called us Saturday morning during studies. Always a nerve racking experience.  Anyway he told me I didn't get my visa which is something I already knew, but he asked me if I wanted to stay in Charleston with Sister Stanley for another transfer in case I got my visa or if I wanted a change. He actually asked me if I wanted to be transferred! That's unheard of! I told him about Sister Matheson changing her mission to Los Angeles. I asked him if that was an option for me, and he said it was.

Now came the moment of decision.

 I had thought and prayed a lot about changing my mission this past week. No answer seemed to becoming to me and I resigned myself to waiting for a visa that may never come. In essence, I had made the decision not to make a decision. I had no intention of telling President that I wanted to stay in South Carolina.

And yet that is exactly what I did.

I can't even explain it. It just slipped out during our conversation, and when it did a flood of peace and happiness came into my heart. I was giddy and I couldn't stop smiling. I felt like my world that had been tilted for so long was suddenly made right. The cool thing is that President had felt the same thing, but he hadn't asked me because he didn't want to influence my decision. When he called he seemed perplexed as to what to do with me, and this is why. Now the change isn't official yet, because it has to be approved by the Twelve first, but I'm considering myself an SCCM missionary only :)

Also, I am getting transferred so I am leaving my beloved Charleston! It was hard to say good-bye to everyone on Sunday, and tonight I am going to teach Michael and Mona for the last time. Boy, I am going to miss them! We find out Wednesday where I am going and who I will be with. I get so nervous for every transfer meeting. It's like a box of chocolates and you never know what you're going to get. I'll have to send you a picture of me and the new companion next week :)

We had exchanges this week, so I went to Summerville with Sister Glauser. The coolest thing about the exchange was the lesson with Kitt and Allison, who are both deaf. Sister Glauser and Sister Willis have been learning sign language to communicate with them! Kitt has been coming to church for nine months! He wants to get baptized, but couldn't because he lived with Allison and they weren't married. They are separating now though so he is getting baptized! Anyway a member drove four hours-FOUR- to help teach and interpret. She was fluent in sign language and it was so cool to watch them "speak" to one another. It was a beautiful thing to see and something I would love to learn. It is so cool that the Spirit doesn't need words to communicate with us. It can speak with all of us. I think one of the greatest lessons we can ever learn in this life is how and when it speaks to us.

We had a really cool lesson with an investigator named Mr. Kline this week. He is an old gentleman who is really knowledgeable about history. It was a really wonderful lesson. We  taught the Restoration and I tried so hard to follow the Spirit. I was praying the whole time. I really tried to relate it to him and to include the member we brought with us. And I felt so much love for this old gentleman! The Spirit was incredible. Sister Ross said some ultra inspired things and made comments without us asking her a direct question. She has come such a long way! The first time she came out with us she was really nervous, but now she is a powerhouse missionary! I guess we have improved a lot too, because Sister Ross commented on what great teachers we have become. I have been in Charleston for six months, so I was bound to improve!

 Sis Daniels and Sis Glauser.  

Dear family,

Thank you so much for your emails! They were perfect :)

I had a really cool experience last Monday. It's starts out sad, but gets really good at the end (like all good stories do :) I was feeling pretty down and had been feeling bad since that ZTM. I came back from getting groceries and doing all the p-day stuff and just sat down and cried. I mean really cried. All the guilt and frustration and disappointments just crushed me. Sister Stanley was really great during all of this. She started crying too and said that when she was in the MTC she started to cry during a role play and that she had some wonderful impressions from the Holy Ghost and one of them was: "If you cry, it means you care." Which is good to hear when you are a crying mess. :) And the impression just kept coming to me that I needed a priesthood blessing. So we called Brother Munns and I had one of the most amazing experiences that I've had on my mission. He sat us down on lawn chairs and had Sister Stanley say a prayer and then he asked me what was wrong. When he asked this, I thought: { I am not succeeding here. I am not doing what I am sent here to do. I feel like my mission is making me more cynical and angry and it isn't supposed to do that. I don't feel like I am a good missionary, etc. } But I only told him about the not succeeding part and Brother Munns was so understanding! He gave me some advice before I had the blessing. He said that when he left on his mission, his brother told him that he needed to do his best and that his best would shift depending on the day. Some days his best would just be getting out of the bed in the morning. Other days it would be hitting twelve lessons. Then he turned to me and told me not to answer out loud and he said, "Are you doing your best?" On reflection, I think I can say that I am. Even those past three miserable days, I did the best I was capable of doing. I am giving it all I have. He also shared another experience about his father. His father served a mission in Kentucky/Tennessee and was the first person to go on a mission in his family. He only baptized one convert that stayed active. Brother Munns said that his father didn't talk about his mission much and that his considered it mostly a failure. But Brother Munns pointed out that his mission had left a legacy. All of his kids served missions. He said, "Your mission legacy is so much more than your 18 months. It extends to your kids and their kids, to cousins and sibling." Then Brother Munns gave me a blessing and boy at this point the tears are flowing freely. The peace that came into my heart was indescribable. Satan's hold on me was completely gone. The discouragement and frustrations that had clung to me for three days were GONE. And that is a big thing to me because I tried everything. I had read my scriptures, prayed, partook of the sacrament, etc and nothing had worked. But this healed me in minutes. I know the priesthood is a real thing. It is the power of God. Isn't that an amazing concept? I haven't had a problem since that blessing!!

This week we had our last zone conference with President and Sister Holm. It was a pretty sad change of events, but I'm happy for them and grateful for their service. President Holm was so sweet. He pulled me aside to talk about my devastation for the lack of visa. I just felt so much love from him. I am so proud that I am a daughter of the SCCM (South Carolina Columbia Mission)!! We each got to take another photo with President and Sister Holm. Looking back, I am completely amazed at how far I've come. I look back at that first picture and just think how little I knew. I had no idea what I had just gotten myself into! I didn't know just how hard, stressful, wonderful, miraculous and beautiful that my mission would be. I didn't know how to be a missionary or a companion or a leader or anything! We also got to give President and Sister Holm a handshake and hug. I sure am going to miss them! President gave us a book that he wrote but we can't read it until after our mission. I am eager to find out what is inside! We also had a testimony meeting and I actually bore my testimony! I still get nervous, but oh well! Missions won't change everything. I really felt the Spirit so hopefully it helped others as well. Sister Holm thanked me for sharing it so I was basically on cloud nine :)

I also had to say good-bye to Sister Gearheart, which was hard. I love that girl so much! Her and Sister Glauser have a special place in my heart! And to think that ten and a half months ago, I didn't even know them! Now I feel as if they are truly my sisters. That is one of the absolute best things about being a missionary: getting to know so many people and developing friendships.

My friend from BYU who is a Brazil visa-waiter serving in Los Angeles, pulled her visa. Her letter was so perfect for my situation so I thought I would include some of it :)

"My heart is so full. I don't have much else to say other than to describe the turning point that happened this week. After hearing such great news about the blessings coming to my family, with jobs and moving to new states and weddings and such, I felt as though the Lord was giving me a greater idea of what was ahead. But the visa/Brazil was still in question, and that got me a little discouraged.

Then on Thursday, President Weidman texted us and said that he wanted to meet with me face to face (which is really unusual unless you have an interview scheduled). So we met at the church building and he sat me down. He told me that, based on the circumstances with the paperwork the last few months, and according to a report from the Missionary Department in Salt Lake, the chances of me getting a visa in the next 7 months are extremely low. He told me that he was instructed to give me the option to change my call officially to stay here in LA for the remainder of my mission.

It was really interesting. I had kind of pictured this happening eventually, maybe. I had imagined telling President, "Well, I don't know, I'm going to have to do a lot of fasting and praying about this..." I was/am a little sad. A little disappointed. But when all of this presented itself, I felt at peace. Completely at peace. I no longer felt anxious or worried or uncertain about my future. I felt that God loves me and is pleased with me and has a plan for me here.

I told him my experience about six weeks ago, just sitting in Sacrament meeting when I had this thought: Brazil is not the tree of life. Jesus Christ is the tree of life. The Atonement is the tree of life.

President teared up a little and then informed me that I will be a Sister Training Leader next transfer. (Basically the equivalent of a Zone Leader, but just over sister missionaries.) . He told me that I am one of the best sisters in the mission and that he needs me. How could I say no? How could I say no to one of the Lord's chosen servants? At the end of the interview, President held out his hand to me and said, "Sister Matheson, welcome to the best mission in the world."

Do you all think I should pull my visa?

I love you all so much! I am so grateful for your support and even though it doesn't always seem like it I am SO grateful to be a missionary in the "best mission in the world." (Which is actually the SCCM but I am sure Los Angeles is good too :)

Love,

Sis D