AN AMAZING DAY!

Wow. I feel like it has been forever since I wrote you last... so much as happened this week! And it was a great week, of course! But it was especially great because we were able to witness a Child of God go into the waters of Baptism!!! :) So here is my week!

Monday: After emails and such, we went to grab some groceries! Ever heard of the store Fairway? One just opened up out here and it is HUGE and so nice and it is super fun to go to! :) ha we also went to the dollar store and bought 7 random treats for the girl getting baptized! We went home and decided to do a countdown for her... each day we would count down for her baptism and we dropped off a present every day!! :) So that was fun! We were able to also have a wonderful family home evening at the church Monday night so that was really fun to spend with a couple people from the ward! Love them! I really hope that can turn into a missionary opportunity soon!!!

Tuesday: We were able to have District Meeting! We went down to Emerson, NJ for this one and it was really great! Those always uplift me! Then it was my turn to go on exchange with the Sister Training Leaders in Caldwell, NJ! So I went with Sister Biolena (also from the Philippines) and ALL the appts cancelled on us that night... :/ so that was hard! But one member did call us and tell us to come over for a treat so we went and I figured I couldn't have it... and I said no thank you and she said do you have an allergy?? And I said yes, Gluten Free! And she said ME TOO!!!!! The treat is Gluten Free! :) So it was some type of peach crumble and it was soooooo tasty! :) Cute little Tender Mercy from the Lord! Talk about good timing! But it is always fun to go on exchanges with different Sisters! She is a sweet heart and really helped me understand the Philippines a little more! So that helped me! We talked a lot! :)

Wednesday: AN AMAZING DAY! We woke up and studied then drove on back to New City to change comps! Took some pictures and then I was back with Sister Gaihe! We had a busy day planned at all turned out the way we wanted! LOVE when that happens! :) We were able to see a LA member! Great lesson with him! Then we were able to see an investigator we found! We had such a cool lesson with her... she was trying to pray to see if she could have a witness that the Book of Mormon is true and she wasn't feeling anything. So we taught her again how to recognize the Spirit (soo important!) and then we asked her to pray with us there and pay attention to how she feels! It's amazing how much faith you have to have when you ask someone to do that and promise them that if they do pray RIGHT NOW that they will get an answer! And so she did and the whole time my comp and I were praying too that she would and bam! She paused for a second then looked up and said "I felt it! I could feel such a warm feeling... I know it's true!" AHHHH! Heavenly Father is so amazing! Being able to be a part of someone receiving a witness is the most amazing thing ever! :) So yes! We asked her to be baptized and she said yes!!!! :) So she is the next one! :) Then we were able to meet with a recent convert, and hopefully soon his family will be investigators! We are working with them! We also had dinner with a member that night and then we were able to go see our baptismal candidate! We went over her baptism and planned everything and made sure she was still good! We also went over the interview questions and listening to her responses was so amazing! It is so amazing to realize how much the Spirit teaches people... because yes me and Sister Gaihe taught her... but it was the Spirit who really witnessed things to her! I somewhat wondered how much she was taking in when we taught but when we asked her the questions her answers proved to me that the Spirit really touched her a lot! :) It was amazing! She was really ready and prepared! Then we went home! :)

Thursday: We were able to have our weekly planning!!! Then we went and we were able to clean the church! We are on the schedule so it was a great opportunity to do that so that was great! :) Then after that, we had Young Womens! It was really fun! 3 New people came!!! (which we thought they would be given to the Elders to teach in Spanish but they met with them last night and said no... they are yours! Teach them in English! SWEET! We will tell you how that goes!) Our baptismal candidate also had her Interview with the District Leader and all went well! She passed! :) After the District Leader came out and said, Good Job Sisters! She is ready! :) AHH! Hearing those words are the best! :) She was happy too! After that though, we went home! :)

Friday! Oh what a great day! We were able to have Zone Conference in Patterson, NJ! Zone Conferences are soo much fun and SOO spiritual! I love them! It's great to see other missionaries and play games with them! We played this game called Zoom Zoom Eeerrkkk... Yes. I totally beat alllll the Sisters and Elders! :) But I have to say. I have the BEST MISSION PRESIDENT AND WIFE EVER!! :) They are so spiritual and try so hard! Sister Jeppson talked to us about how we are all getting fat and we need to eat better... ;) haha nooo but she talked to us about eating right! She is such a good little mom to all 200 missionaries! President talked about a lot of things... that man is the most spiritual man I have ever met... I told him today that I am pretty sure he could read the phone book and I would learn something and feel the spirit! He is amazing! :) But he told us that we will be getting Ipads in March or April!!! No more planners, area books, nothing! All our teaching and planning will be on there! WOW right?? That will be super different and I will have a good 6 months using them! He also talked about how the numbers for missionaries just keep increasing! We are supposed to have a certain amount of missionaries but they keep trying to send him more! So he keeps taking them! :) haha He also said that our mission has the least amount of Members in the States however, it is the 4th highest baptizing mission in the states! :) SWEET HUH? :) But he also talked a lot about Hastening the Work and having a good relationship with your Bishop-just what I needed to hear! :) After that we went home and all our appts cancelled. yay. But we were able to stop by our baptismal candidate’s house to give her a present and talked to her dad for a while! It was a really good conversation and he was super happy about the change he has seen in his daughter! :)

Saturday: We were only able to have one lesson, but it was a great day! A member had us over for Lunch and ordered Chinese! YUM!! We had a lesson with another investigator and that went okay... he is a funny guy but he wants to change! Then we came home and got things ready for the Baptism! Here they always have food after so we helped Sister Kay make Tuna Sandwiches and we made cookies and everything! Then that night we were able to go to a Trunk or Treat put on by the ward! That was really good! An investigator and her brother came! And lots of Less Actives! That was fun! :) Funny Story: It started at 5:30... well 6:00 rolls around and the Elders aren't there yet but their investigators are.. So I just had a feeling something was wrong... so we called them and they answer and say "We lost our car..." uhhh????? Really?? So yes they parked their car and went into an appt and then came back out and it was gone! haha sooo since all the members were at the trunk or treat, we had to go help them! Well we get there and after about 15 mins I asked if they had called the cops?!? And they said no... uhh?? YES! CALL THE COPS!! haha so they did and the cop knew right what car it was and told them that it got towed! They parked in front of a driveway.... yes... enough said! We went back to the trunk or treat and had a great night! :)

SUNDAY!! Well Sunday was the big day! :) We had worked so hard at planning everything out for the baptism and she was really excited! We were able to have a great sacrament meeting and a wonderful gospel principles lesson then we got everything ready and had her baptism after the 3 hour! We got her all dressed and it's amazing how beautiful she looks in white! :) Then we had the program and she asked me to talk on baptism! I had a boiled egg and drew all over it and said that was sin! Then I cracked it and said that she had to humbled herself and repent and then baptism would wipe away that dirty hard shell! :) It was great! Then off she went! She was really excited! Bishop baptized her and she wasn't fully immersed so she had to be dunked 3 times!!!!! haah it was still good though and after everything she said she felt so amazing! :) Then we went back and Sister Gaihe talked about the Holy Ghost and then a couple of her friends bore their testimonies then we were off to have a little lunch! It was really great and she was super happy! :) Next week in sacrament she will receive the Holy Ghost and she will be on her way to the temple! :) She had a lot of support from the ward and her mom and one of her sisters came too so that was really good! It was a really great day though! After all that we had an appt with another investigator and that went well, then we also had another appt with a sister in the ward and it was really spiritual! :) But that was our wonderful day!

Phew!

That was our week though! :) Very well packed with miracles and the spirit! I am so grateful to be a part of this amazing work!!!! Thanks for all you do and I love you all very much! :)

Sister Dahl

(Click on photos to enlarge)

 Me and Sister Biolena on exchanges

 A Wonderful Day!!!

Me and a horse that wanted a kiss!